Reflections: Based on Mulan
by Cassie Bones
Summary: Fairytale AU # 3! This one is based off of Mulan! R&R
1. Author's Note

**Okay, so here is my next story, based off of Mulan! Now I know a lot of people said they wanted Rapunzel, but someone brought this up to me during the first chapter of Beauty in the Bones and I think it's perfect for Booth and Brennan. I mean a girl who illegally joins an all-male army, kicks some ass, saves a country, and gets the hot army-guy? Does that not sound like Brennan to you? My only issue is I don't know who will play Mushu and I don't think it should take place in China, so yes, my first chapter of my story is going to be an A/N. I really need some suggestions. So far, Zach is the cricket, because I honestly thought he was the smartest character in the movie (or at least one of them). But I need to make other character parallels and I need to find out what country to use, because it's obvious nobody in Bones (besides Angela) is Chinese. Anyways, PLEASE help by reviewing ideas!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter ONE of Fairytale THREE! Reflections! Since I still have a few things to consider before I get on with the main story, here's the childhood of our main character! Enjoy!**

Chapter One

Six-year-old Temperance Brennan stared at her reflection in her family's backyard pond, trying to find herself among the face paints and the traditional black robes she wore, but it was no use. She could not see herself there at all. Her hair, usually very visibly auburn, was covered in leaves and flowers and tied up in a twisted braid on the top of her head. And her usually soft, light-skin was painted with the traditional symbols of her village, silver and blue.

Temperance frowned at the water, not recognizing the little girl in the water, and was about to ask for her name when she heard a voice from behind her. "Temperance?" she turned around and her eyes widened when she turned and saw her father standing there, leaning heavily on his cane. "Sweetheart, what are you doing all the way out here?"

Temperance shrugged and turned back to the pond. "I can't find it." she said.

Max stepped forward and looked with her, his own made up expression appearing next to hers. "Find what, Sweetie? Did you drop something?"

Temperance shook her head. "No, I didn't drop anything. But I can't find my reflection. Russ said that you can always find your reflection when you look into the pond. But all I can see is that girl. But she doesn't look anything like me."

Max squinted at her reflection and smiled. "Well, I can see you." he said. "You're right there!" he poked her in the nose, chuckling while she crinkled it.

"Daddy!" Temperance scolded, sounding very much like her mother. "I'm serious! I can't find myself in the water!" she was sounding very distressed now. "Russ always said you could see your reflection."

Max nodded in understanding. "He's right. You can see your reflection." he assured her. "You just have to look a bit deeper."

Temperance furrowed her eyebrows at him. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Max just smiled and winked at her, before holding out his hand. "Come on." he said. "Or we'll be late."

Temperance sighed and took hold of his hand, walking with him as he hobbled towards their hut.

Once inside, Temperance was met with a dozen saddened expressions, including that of her mother, Christine, and her grandmother, Angela (Michaela Conlin, if you're reading this, I'm sorry!).

Christine spotted her husband and daughter at once and leaned down to take her young daughter in her arms, kissing the tiny girl's forehead. Temperance snuggled into her mother's embrace, burying her nose in the flowery-smelling robes, while Max wrapped his arms around both his wife and child, attempting to comfort them both, as well as himself.

Angela looked on, solemnly and walked to the far side of the room, where a large box lay at the end of a long aisle, with chairs on either side. "Please, all be seated." she requested, and all guests moved towards their seats, including Max and Christine, holding Temperance in her arms. They sat in front, huddled together, as Angela began. "My dear family," she began, in a somber tone, "we gather here to grieve for a fellow family member, young Russel 'Russ' Brennan, a young man, barely beginning life, taken before his time, before he could follow his father's footsteps in the awful war that has plagued our country for many years now. A war that was, in fact the reason for this young boy's death, but a war the men in his family will continue to fight." She said this, proudly, as all the men stood up, some holding their young sons in their arms and on their shoulders. But her voice quavered slightly when she said, "Let us take a moment to remember this young, twelve-year old man and pray that no others in our family be taken from us before their time."

Their were nods all around as the women now stood up with their children and lowered their heads as Christine walked up to the casket and placed a single rose on it, and her father's war emblem that she was supposed to give Russ when he turned thirteen, but never got to. She sobbed over the casket a moment, before turning and walking back to her seat. Next, Max walked up and bowed to the casket, placing his rose and his hand on the surface, saying a small prayer for his son's journey to the spirit world and standing up once more with the help of his cane. He took a deep breath, willing the tears away, and walked back to his seat, leaving Temperance standing up there, alone, looking at her lost brother's flower-filled casket. Cautiously, she walked up to it and bowed, respectively, before placing the rose she held on top and slipping another flower from her robe pocket. This was one of the lilies from the pond that she and Russ would pluck from the water to make tiaras and crowns from. With those they would play for hours and have as much fun as they could before darkness came and they would have to retreat to their hut.

Temperance's eyes teared up as she placed her hand, gently on the casket. "I'll find my reflection, Russ," she whispered, "I promise." she left the lily on the casket and retreated back to her parents, Christine taking her back in her lap to comfort her once again.

**For anybody wondering, this is a South American country, (not any specific country, though), and it's more tribal than China, of course, but will be mostly the same as the conditions in Mulan's China. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Now, please REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Update! Thank you all so much for the suggestions! I have taken them all into account and I'm ready to post chapter two that will be the introduction of a lot of main characters! Enjoy!**

Chapter Two

Ten years later...

"Hello. My name is Temperance Joy Brennan, and I would like to be your...no, no, no, no, that's not right." Temperance mumbled to herself, shaking her head as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She'd just woken up and her hair was up in a messy bun, hair falling down her face, drool stains on her cheek, and her sleep tank and sleeping shorts wrinkled from a rough night of sleep. Today was the day she was supposed to meet with a matchmaker to set her up with a future husband, a man that she would spend the rest of eternity waiting on and raising children with.

Temperance scoffed at the entire idea of it. The idea of setting up with a man that would proclaim a woman his property and hold possession over her for the rest of her natural-born life. It was absurd! She knew from her learning that humans were not a monogamous race and only having one mate for the rest of their lives would be absolutely preposterous, not to mention nearly impossible!

But then again...Temperance looked to her bedside table and smiled at the painting of her mother and father that her grandmother had sketched one day, while watching them in the beginning of their relationship. They had been laughing and goofing around, enjoying their youth in front of Christine's hut, while Angela acted as a chaperone, smiling at their exuberance, and sketching a simple drawing that she later painted and detailed to match the scene perfectly.

Christine and Max were still as much in love as they were as youths and it showed in the way they shared secret smiles and looked at each other as if sunshine came from their eyes. Temperance found it beautiful that they loved each other so much and she was happy for it, but she knew it was only one in a hundred couples that still felt this way after so many years together, for many of the other older couples fought constantly or didn't speak to each other out of pure spite.

Temperance didn't want this for herself. If she was going to be forced to do this, she hoped she would find somebody who loved her as much as her father loved her mother, and somebody she could love likewise. But, again, the chances of that were slim to none.

Sadly, there was no way out of it. The only thing she could hope for was that she would be late to the matchmaker's and the matchmaker would refuse to make her a match. This would mean that she'd have to wait another year for another appointment and be able to delay the inevitable.

Temperance relaxed slightly at this thought and looked at herself in the mirror once more. "My name is Temperance Brennan," she said, reading the words written on her wrist, "I am the daughter of a soldier and a teacher. I am an only-" Temperance took a deep breath and looked at the commemorative painting her grandmother had made of Russ that hung on her wall. "I'm sorry.  
>She whispered, before continuing to read. "I am an only child, therefore I have handled all household chores myself. I can cook, clean, and farm at an expert level. My hopes are to become a healer for the sick and wounded. I am obedient, loyal, and am fertile." She winced at these words. They made it sound like she was enlisting in the army, for God's sake. "I hope I can be your perfect wife and I hope you will be my perfect provider." she finished reciting. Everything she said, word for word, would be written down by the matchmaker and matched to those of a man, who wanted the same things. Then she would tell the matchmaker what kind of husband she hoped to have and that would narrow it down, then the matchmaker would decide who was best for her and the rest would be up to fate.<p>

Fate. Temperance didn't like the thought that her future would be left up to something that she, herself, could not control, but that was how it had to be. That was what her parents, and her grandparents, and her great-grandparents had gone through and what she now had to go through in order to live a 'proper life' as so many in the village had called it.

Temperance sighed again. "A proper life." she scoffed, falling onto her bed. "Right!" She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to drift for a bit before she would have to get up and head to the bathing room.

She had just barely closed her eyes when her grandmother's voice rang out in her ear. "Temperance! Wake up, you lazy girl!" Temperance's eyes hot up and her body jerked, knocking her off her bed with a groan.

"Grandma, don't you ever knock?" she asked, on a moan.

Angela placed her hands on her hips. "I _did_ knock." she growled. "But you were too far in your little dreamland to notice. Now, come on!" she pulled Temperance to her feet. "Your bath is getting cold!"

Temperance's eyes flew open in panic. "Bath?" she asked.

Angela looked back at her. "Yes! Of course! You don't wanna go in there smelling like a goat, do you?"

Temperance frowned at that, and smelled under her arm. "Do I really smell that bad?" she asked, self-consciously.

Angela grinned. "Worse." she teased, making Temperance pout as she was pulled into the bathroom. "Okay. Strip." Angela ordered, pulling at the hem of her tank top.

Temperance slapped her hands away. "I can do it!" she said, stripping off her sleep clothes and stepping into the tub, shivering slightly at the chill of the water.

Angela apparently decided that she was taking too long and pushed her shoulders so that she sat down, quickly, in the tub of cold water. Temperance immediately sputtered and wrapped her arms around herself. "It's freezing!" she whined.

Angela scowled at her. "Well, if you weren't snoozing, it would be warm, wouldn't it?" Temperance glared at her and closed her eyes as water was poured over her.

Suddenly a pair of hands attacked her hair, rubbing in some shampoo as Temperance sputtered and coughed. Then another jug of water was spilled over her head as the shampoo was rinsed out. Then two pairs of arms pulled her out of the tub and began attacking her head and body with towels as Temperance wiggled and jerked at tickling fingers.

Then clothes were being thrown on her and Temperance barely had enough time to lift her arms and step into a skirt as her robes were tied around her waist and Christine showed up in front of her and began attacking her face with make up while Angela tugged and braided her hair.

When they were finally done preparing her, Christine got a mirror to show her and Temperance frowned at her reflection.

She couldn't see herself.

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	4. Chapter 3

**Update!**

Chapter Three

The walk to the matchmaker's hut was long and exhausting, not because of the distance (Temperance was used to walking much farther for her lessons, which were now over due to the fact that women were not allowed in class past a certain age), but because of Christine and Angela on either side of her.

"And don't forget to mention that you can sew. Men _really _love that!" Angela was saying.

"And stand straight and tall, but not too tall! Miss Julian will be taking notes to share with possible matches." Christine said.

"_Miss_?" Temperance asked. "She's not even married, herself?"

Christine shook her head. "Her husband passed away a few years ago. Poor dear. Oh, well! She'll get you a good, _healthy_ husband! But only if you stand straight!"

"And have this little guy with you!" Angela said, pulling something out of her skirt pocket.

Temperance's eyes widened to see a small, blue cricket, blinking up at her, almost smiling. "What is-?"

"It's a cricket, of course!" Angela exclaimed. "Isn't he just darling? I won him in a game of poker and I haven't lost a single game since! He's a lucky cricket! And he'll bring you the best fortune if you keep him in your robe during the interview!" She pulled one of Temperance's pockets open and dropped in the cricket and a small leaf. "His name's Zack and if you feed him enough of those leaves, he'll purr like a kitten!"

Temperance chuckled. "Whatever you say, Grandma."

As they approached Miss Julian's hut, Temperance let out a low whistle. It was one of the biggest huts in the village. Barely even small enough to be called a hut. It was almost a house! Much like Temperance's and few others in the village, but Temperance's hut was one of the oldest in the village, as well; her family had been here since the village was founded, a few hundred years ago. And she would probably keep the chain going.

They paused outside the hut so Angela and Christine could give Temperance a few more pointers and wish her the best of luck...before pushing her right into Miss Julian's hut.

Temperance was frightened as soon as she entered in such a rough manner that she would be kicked out, but instead the older, slightly large woman, sitting there at a table when she entered just sipped her drink and looked over the young girl, as if bored. Then she put down her glass, stood up, and smiled, almost evilly. "Let's begin, shall we, Cherie?" she said.

Temperance gulped and patted the pocket with her lucky cricket inside, hoping that Zack hadn't been squished. Thankfully he moved, but Temperance doubted he'd bring her any luck today.

Nearly two hours later Temperance was feeling exhausted, in more than just the physical sense of the word. Miss Julian had quizzed her on everything from what the most important trait Temperance possessed that would win a man's heart to the way she should wash and fold his 'delicates' to the number of children she thought would please him.

By the end of it all Temperance was ready to drop, but they still weren't finished and she could tell that, by the look on her face, Miss Julian was as unhappy as she was with how things were progressing, as she was now on her fourth cup of 'stress-relieving' tea.

"Now, one more time, Temperance." she said, through gritted teeth. "How would you wash your husband's war attire?"

Temperance looked at her arm, knowing it would be of no use, since all she'd written down had been washed away hours ago in the bath and now all that was left was a small freckle on the inside of her wrist.

"Um...I...I would...um..." she really had not studied this question, though she should of since the war that had plagued her nation for more than a decade was heating up once again and men were going to have to start going back soon. "I-I...Miss Julian, I'm so sorry! I have no idea."

Miss Julian glared at her and slammed her tea down on the table. "That's it!" she said. "That's the last straw! Every single simple question I have given you so far has gotten that same exact response! 'I don't know', 'I'm not sure', 'I just need a little time to think'! You're a woman, and men do not expect their women to think! They just want answers! And what the hell is in your pocket that you keep fidgeting with?" Miss Julian grabbed Temperance's wrist as it dove into the pocket where Zack was kept and pulled it out, plunging her own fist in instead and pulling out one very confused blue cricket.

Miss Julian took one look at the cricket in her hand and let out an ear-piercing scream, dropping the cricket.

Temperance made a dive for him and caught Zack right before he was to fall to the ground, and he smiled up at her as she smiled back and placed him in her pocket, before backing up towards the door. "I-I'm so sorry, Miss Julian! M-maybe next time we can-"

"Next time?" Miss Julian exclaimed. "There won't be a next time, little girl! For as far as I am concerned, you'll never find a proper husband! Now, get out and don't come back until you've turned into a proper young lady!"

Temperance sighed and turned around, running out of the hut...

And straight into the chest of a strong young man.

"Hey!" Temperance exclaimed, practically bouncing back and falling to the ground. "Watch it!" she said, glaring up at the man, whose face she couldn't make out in the sunlight. She could however make out the outline of his hand being held out to help her up.

She took it, gratefully and stood up, her breath catching when she could finally make out his face.

"Sorry." he said, gruffly, his brown eyes hard and distant. "I didn't see you running full speed out of that hut in front of me. Next time I won't stand so still and in your way." His voice was dripping sarcasm, but their was a slight quirk to his lips that exuded cockiness and made Temperance roll her eyes, despite the flush that rose up on her face at the sight of him.

He was broad-shouldered, and he had short, spiky brown hair, and his face was slightly tanned and had barely any wrinkles. Temperance estimated his age to be around twenty, possibly twenty one? And he was wearing a general's uniform, which gave Temperance pause.

Why was there a general in the village? Temperance's eyes widened as a horrible thought came to mind and she raced around the general and began to sprint towards home, praying to God that what she thought was happening, wasn't really the truth.

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	5. Chapter 4

**Update!**

Chapter Four

Temperance's race home was slowed partly from the heavy robes she wore and partly from the many people leaving their huts to see what all the commotion was, as soldiers called out family names and messages were delivered.

Temperance looked on at this in panic as she made her way to her hut, praying that they skip her house, but there was no such luck.

As she came upon her own hut, her heart practically stopped at the sight of a young soldier knocking at her door, and almost fainted when her father came to the door.

Max bowed to the soldier. "Good day, young man." he greeted. "How can I help you?"

The soldier bowed back. "Good day, Sgt. Brennan." he greeted, showing Max the ultimate respect. "A war has been declared. One man from each family is ordered to join in our efforts to ward off the invaders. Will you stand up and help your country?"

Max eyed the note in his hand, then looked to the cane in his own, then back to the note, and took a deep breath, before standing tall, ignoring the pain in his hip. He nodded. "I will." he said.

The soldier nodded, keeping his strict demeanor, and handed him the letter. "I'll see you on the battlefield, Sgt." he said, before bowing and turning on his heel, walking past Temperance on his way to the next house.

Temperance watched in disgust as the soldier walked away, before racing up to the front door of her own home. "Father!" she cried out, tears falling down her cheeks. "You can't!"

Max held up one hand. "I don't want to hear it, Tempe." he said, sternly. "This is not your decision."

"But, Fa-"

Max shook his head. "No more." Temperance quieted, tears falling silently, down her cheeks. "Now," Max said, a bit more lightly, "how did it go at the matchmaker's today?"

Temperance looked away, tears falling faster as her chin quivered. Max understood, and he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "It's okay." he soothed, as she sobbed into his chest. "There's always next year."

Temperance nodded. She didn't want to tell him the truth just yet. She didn't want to bring any more bad news to her family than had already been brought.

A couple hours later, Temperance, her parents, and her grandmother were all seated at the dinner table, eating a simple meal of brown rice and beans, all being eerily quiet.

Max had just announced his decision to go back into the army to his wife and to his mother, both of which had been horrified by the news, but neither had chosen to comment on it, thinking it better to stay silent, like the women they were supposed to be.

But Temperance found it difficult to stay so. As she sipped her tea, she had trouble swallowing past the lump in her throat, and she frequently had to stop to take a deep, calming breath. But soon it became too much and she stood, looking straight at her father. "You can't go!" she exclaimed.

"Temperance-" Max began, but Temperance cut him off.

"No, Father! Think of yourself! You have a bad hip! How can you expect to fight in a war with it? You can't! You'll die!" She tried to reason with him.

"At least I'll die with pride!" he exclaimed.

"Pride for what? The first thing that will happen when you get out there is you'll be killed! Where's the pride in that?"

"At least I'll have accomplished _some_thing! That's more than I can say for you!" Max boomed, slapping his hands on the table.

Temperance just looked at him, wide-eyed, as if she'd been slapped, before turning and running from the room.

**It's a little different from the fight in the movie, but aw well. My story, my rules xD. Anyways, please REVIEW for more!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Update! Midterms week is here and thank God I only have one midterm! But it's gonna be a doozy, that's for sure! Wish me luck and enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter Five

Temperance sat in her bed, wide awake that night, thinking about what her father had said at dinner. Did he truly believe she was that worthless? That she could accomplish nothing? That she hadn't accomplished anything thus far in her life?

How could that even be true? She'd accomplished so much in her life!

Like she...she...well, she was one of the first girls in her village to have accomplished school early, but that was mostly due to her early start, and it wasn't something many in her village would really care much for. A girl finishing schooling was not too uncommon, or important. Anyway, the only careers a woman could possibly possess were teacher, healer, or housewife. Nothing else.

But she'd also...

Temperance sighed as she felt her eyes well up with tears once again. It was true. She really had not accomplished anything in her life. Not anything worthwhile, anyway.

She turned her head to look out her window, where she could see her parents' room across their small courtyard. Their lantern was still lit and she could just make out their shadows. Temperance's mother was standing just in front of the window and the shadows she created made it clear that she was distressed. Temperance watched as her father's shadow appeared and attempted to comfort her, but Christine moved away, shaking her head and disappeared from sight, leaving Max there, alone, his head hanging.

The tears welling up in Temperance's eyes spilled over as her heart clenched and she turned her head into her pillow, burying it there to silence her sobs. Angela was asleep in the room next to hers and despite the size of their generous hut, their walls were still as thin as paper. And despite Angela's age, the old woman's ears were as sharp as Temperance's.

Soon, though, Temperance didn't have to worry about waking her grandmother as she calmed, sniffling a bit as she lifted her head from the pillow to look out the window again. Her parents' lantern had been shut off and now, but for the moonlight illuminating the grounds, everything was dark and eerily silent.

Silent enough for Temperance to think. And when Temperance thought, her mind went into overdrive. And the one thing her overworked mind kept coming back to was a single word.

Accomplish.

Temperance couldn't get that word out of her head, not since her father brought it up because, really, what _had_ she accomplished? What of importance had she accomplished in her sixteen years?

The answer to that question was simple. Temperance had accomplished absolutely nothing in the last sixteen years of her life. Nothing at all.

But that could be easily changed.

The thought came to Temperance so suddenly that she barely had time to think anything else before her feet were moving on their own accord, propelling her out her bedroom door, tiptoeing past Angela's room, and straight towards her parents room at the end of the hall, where the door was cracked open.

Temperance peered in, making sure that both her parents were asleep before tiptoeing in, around to her father's side of the bed.

Temperance tried to stay angry at him, so she could brush off what she was about to do as spite, but one look at his peaceful, sleeping, vulnerable face, and she could just barely resist the urge to lean down and kiss his cheek.

Quickly, she looked away from his face and grabbed the letter that was still laying on his nightstand, replacing it with the necklace he'd given her when she was four; she'd never taken it off before then.

Then, with one more longing look at her beloved parents, she tiptoed out of their room, to her father's trophy room.

Max Brennan didn't have but one trophy, and it wasn't even a real trophy in itself. As in, he didn't win it in any competition or gain it from any sort of battle.

No, Max Brennan's most prized possession, his most guarded trophy was his great-grandfather's sword. It was a sword passed down from eldest son to eldest son and it was forged during the first great war in which Temperance's ancestor had led their people to victory and had aided in starting their beloved village, with the help of three other men; the only name Temperance could remember of her father's stories was a man named Booth, though. In truth, Russ found the stories more interesting than she had and was even supposed to receive the sword on his sixteenth birthday, but, of course, that had never happened. His sixteenth birthday had come and gone with ceremony, without the boy, himself.

Temperance bowed in memory of her lost brother, before looking up at the sword hanging on the wall. She just stared at it for a moment, trying to remember the last time her father had brought her in to look at it, but it was useless. Because the last time she'd seen this particular weapon, Russ had still been alive and had been learning to use it, himself.

Temperance could remember watching from far away (where she couldn't be hurt, according to her father) as Max showed Russ the proper hand and foot motions, basic training for defense in case the need would ever arise for Russ to be the one defending his mother, sister, and grandmother.

It never had.

But, nevertheless, Temperance still remembered the moves her father had shown her brother and as she took the sword in her hand, testing the balance and looking at her reflection in the blade. She frowned at it. Though she recognized herself this time, that was the problem.

Taking a deep breath, Temperance grabbed a handful of hair in her fist and brought the sword's edge to it. Without pausing, Temperance brought the sword straight through her hair, cutting off at least six or seven inches of glossy auburn hair, so that it now came to just below her ears, a classic boy's cut in her village.

She did the same with the rest of her hair, until it was all one even, short length.

This time when she looked herself in the blade, she was pleased with what she saw, because even if it wasn't truly her, it was what she'd been expecting, for once.

Temperance nodded at the reflection, before laying the sword down gently and walking over to a large armoir on the far side of the room and opening it to reveal her father's old body armor, which she'd frequently seen him try on, as if to relive old times. But Temperance knew that he was dreaming of the day his boy would try them on, the day now, thanks to invaders and a horrible terrorizing act, would never be.

Temperance grabbed the armor and began to pull it on over her regular clothing, tying on shoulder pads and leg braces and chest armor.

Soon she was almost unrecognizable. She had broader shoulders, a thicker waist, and her stance seemed straighter, prouder somehow.

She looked like a soldier, like her father...

Like Russ.

That thought caused an involuntary shiver to run through Temperance and she shook the thought from her head.

Picking up the sword, she placed in her sheath, but not without one more look at her reflection.

Temperance couldn't recognized herself in the least. Her short hair had been tied into a manly ponytail in the back of her head, like most of the other young men in her village, her armor made her look muscular, a fact that would surely change once she was back in normal clothes, but she'd made sure that her chest was bound before entering the trophy room, so even without all the armor, she looked like a man.

For the most part, anyway.

Now all she had to do was work on her 'manly' voice, but that could be done much later, when she didn't have to be so quiet.

For now, all she had to do was go and retrieve her father's horse, Wendell.

Wendell was a beautiful horse, with a peach coat and a long, blonde, flowing mane. He was strong and sturdy, and as loyal as a dog. Max had gotten him around the time Temperance began walking and he'd been protective of her ever since. He would do just about anything for anybody in the Brennan family, but it seemed he shared a very deep bond with Temperance. So when she walked into the small stable where he slept, he was instantly alert and awaiting her command.

Temperance smiled softly at the horse and reached out for his reigns, but he didn't seem to recognize her and for a second he shied away from her, neighing loudly and moving as far away as possible.

Panicked, Temperance got a tight grip and tried to calm him by petting his nose. "Shh!" she whispered. "Wendell, it's okay! It's just me! It's Temperance."

Her voice seemed to soothe him as he calmed down and licked her hand, making Temperance chuckle as she ran her fingers through his mane. "Good boy." she said, saddling him up with her bags. "We're going on a little journey, okay? We gotta leave right now." She climbed on his back, and snapped his reigns, propelling him forward. "Come on now." she whispered in his ear. "Let's go, boy!"

Wendell took off at once, running around the length of the hut and over the front gate.

Somewhere, in the Brennans' hut, something must have seen off, because as soon as Temperance was out of sight, Angela sat straight up in her bed, only one word on her lips. "Temperance!"

Without a second thought, the old woman ran from her bed, into the room of her young granddaughter, her heart stopping at the sight of an empty bed. "Temperance!" she exclaimed. "Oh no! Max! Christine!" she called out for her son and daughter-in-law, running into their room.

They awoke at once, confused and disoriented. "What's going on?" Max muttered. "What happened?"

Angela gave him a solemn look. "Temperance." she said. "She's gone."

Max's eyes widened and his hand automatically reached out for him war letter, but came in contact with cool metal instead. Looking over, he saw the necklace he'd given her when she was little and his heart came to a halt. "No..." he whispered, jumping out of bed. "No, no, no, no, no..." the word was like a chant as he ran into his trophy room, his worst fears confirmed as he saw his armoir open and his prized sword missing. "No!" he exclaimed, once more, as he ran right out the door, out to the stable, where his horse ought to have been, but as he'd suspected, Wendell wasn't there. "Tempe!" he cried out.

Christine joined him a moment later, tears in her eyes as she came to the same realization as him. "You have to go after her." she pleaded. "She could be killed!"

Max placed an arm around his wife, in comfort. "I can't." he said. "If I reveal her, then she will be."

Christine gasped and buried her face in her husband's chest, her back rising and falling as she sobbed.

Meanwhile, Angela watched from afar, looking to their small temple where the graves of their ancestors lay. The same graves they prayed to every day for guidance. "Please, ancestors," she prayed, "protect Temperance and bring her back to us, safely. Please."

**REVIEW!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Update! Cue the makeshift Mushu! Enjoy!**

Chapter Six

Great Ancestor Brennan, the first of all Brennans to be buried in this country, looked down over his grief-stricken family as they stood out, amongst the pouring rain, looking out in the direction his youngest relative had just disappeared in. He shook his head in disappointment at young Temperance.

What could she be thinking? A woman joining the army? Preposterous! Women were meant for cooking and cleaning! And teaching and healing! But not for fighting! Absurd! Women could not fight! Not if their lives depended on it!

But still... Temperance was _family_. He could not leave her on her own, without a guardian to watch over her and make sure she stayed safe. "Parker!" he called out, suddenly, making a last-minute decision. "PARKER!" he called louder. "Where is that lazy oaf?" he grumbled to himself.

Suddenly, the temple was filled with thick, gray smoke as one of the statues in the temple began to change and take shape of a real, live, red dragon. Who stood about eight inches tall.

Parker raced to the ancestor and stood at attention! "Yes, sir! Who do ya need me to protect? Who, sir? Just say their name and I'll be right at their side! Just tell me who I need to protect and I'll be right th-"

"Parker!" Ancestor boomed. Parker's mouth shut immediately and he peered up at his boss, awaiting his instructions excitedly. Ancestor just glared down at him. "Do you honestly think," he spat, "that I would let _you_ go out and protect one of my descendents? After what happened _last_ time?"

Parker flinched at the reference to his past blunder. "It was just a little scratch."

"His head was chopped off!" Ancestor boomed in outrage.

Parker flinched, his entire body going tense at the outburst. "Just a little..." he said, softly. Ancestor's eyebrow lifted and Parker sighed. "Okay, okay! I get it, but in my defense I told him to watch that guy with the ax. It's not _my _fault he didn't listen."

"Actually," Ancestor retorted. "It is. Now, go get your gong and bring it over to a _real_ guardian, like...The Gold Dragon! He will make sure Temperance is taken care of!"

"That show-off! He doesn't care about any of the descendents! He's just in it for his own pride! He's a jerk!" Park huffed, jealously.

"No matter!" Ancestor boomed. "He is the best we have and only he will make sure that Temperance returns safely, and with all her limbs attached." He shot a look at Parker.

"I said I was sorry!" Parker exclaimed. Ancestor just shook his head and pointed in the direction of the great dragon statue erected in the courtyard.

Parker wanted to argue more, but one more intense look from his superior sent him scrambling towards the statue.

As he approached the Golden Dragon, he stuck his tongue out at it, knowing that Ancestor would not be able to see from his vantage point, as the courtyard was concealed by the hut. The only part of the statue that could possibly be seen was the top of its head.

Parker glared at the statue as he hopped up and began ringing the gong in its ear. "Wakey, wakey!" He shouted. "Come on, Goldie! Wake up!" The dragon didn't even flinch. Parker pouted. "Come on! Wake up! Let's go! You gotta go protect Temperance!" Still no movement. Parker raised the gong's mallet and hit the dragon once in between the eyes, hoping that it would wake him up.

Instead, it caused a crack to spring up, much to Parker's horror, and a chip to fall off the face of the statue. "Oh no..." Parker whimpered just before the crack spread to the other parts of the statue, as quick as lighting, and soon he was lying in a pile of rock and rubble, dust rising around him. "Oh no!" Parker exclaimed, looking around. "This is not good!"

"Golden Dragon!" Ancestor called out making Parker jumped. "Have you awakened?"

Parker's eyes widened as he looked around himself and without thinking, he responded, in a voice much deeper than his usual one. "Uh, yes, Ancestor!" he called back. "I have awakened! And I'm...uh...I'm going to go save Temperance now! Rest assured! I will return with her, safe and sound! You can count on me!"

Ancestor laughed, jovially. "Very good!" He called back. "We have all the faith in the world in you! Now go forth and make our family proud!"

"Will do!" Parker called back, his voice raising an octave, involuntarily. "Goodbye, now!" he scrambled in the opposite direction of the temple, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible as he ran around the hut and through the front gate, hiding himself behind a rock. "Oh, jeez!" he moaned, collapsing against the rock. "What am I gonna do now?"

He closed his eyes, resting his face in his hands, a position completely devoid of hope. Then he heard a slight chirp at his side. He turned his head, seeing nothing and was about to turn it back when another chirp came from below and he looked down, staring at a curiously blue cricket, who was smiling up at him. "Who are you?" Parker asked.

The cricket chirped.

"Zack?" Parker asked. "What kind of name is that?"

Zack chirped again.

"What do you mean 'your name'? Smart aleck!"

Chirp. Chirp.

"Go after her? Are you insane? I can't just-" suddenly, his eyes brightened. "Hey, that's it! I'll go after her and help her in the army! I'll make her a war hero and they'll _have_ to let me be a guardian again!" Parker jumped up. "I better get going!"

Chirp. Chirp.

"Who said you were invited?"

Chirp.

"What do you mean you're lucky?"

Chirp.

"Fine, but you better do whatever I say!"

Chirp. Chirp.

"No way you're smarter than me."

Chirp.

"What branch-?"

SMACK!

Chirp.

"Shut up, Zack!"

**REVIEWS!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Update! Time to meet the boys! Can you guess who I chose to be Chien Po, Ling, and Yao? Keep reading to find out!**

Chapter Seven

"Okay," Temperance said, standing up. "How's this?" She cleared her throat. "Ahem. Hey, there, guys! My name is uh...Russ Brennan and I like dirt and bugs and- EEP! Snake!" Temperance lost her poorly-practiced 'male' voice at the sight of a small green garter snake slithering in the grass by her feet. She practically flung herself at Wendell, hiding herself, childishly, behind him.

The horse gave her a bored look and snorted, causing Temperance to glare at him. "Shut up!" she growled. "I'm not scared! I was just...startled!"

Wendell almost looked as if he were smiling at that, but a sound coming from the direction of the trees had him looking away.

Temperance heard it, as well, and peered over the horse's midsection, trying to locate the place from which the sound was coming. "Hello?" she said, after a moment of silence. "Is somebody there?" She made her voice go deep, like a man's. "I have weapons and I'm not afraid to use them." She warned.

Suddenly a small red...lizard (?) popped up on a rock just a few feet in front of her, startling Temperance so much that she nearly fell back. She was able to regain her position, crouching, knees bent, on her feet in no time though, and she sent a glare at the small, strange-looking lizard. "What kind of lizard is that?" she whispered in Wendell's ear.

If a horse could shrug, that's just what Wendell did. Then both were completely shocked when a sound of outrage came from the little lizard. "Hey! I am _not_ a lizard! I'm a DRAGON!"

Temperance's eyes widened. "Did...did you just...talk?"

The 'dragon' gave her a look. "Of course I just talked! I'm a guardian!" He said this as if it were obvious, with a roll of his eyes.

Temperance furrowed her eyebrows and cocked her head slightly. "My ancestors sent _you_ to protect me? But you're so..."

"Debonair? Vicious? Dangerously attractive?" the dragon said, with a cocky grin.

"Tiny." Temperance said, motioning with two fingers close together. "Don't get me wrong; you're cute and all, but...how exactly are you going to protect me? You're, like, three inches tall."

The dragon glared at her. "I'm _eight_ inches tall, thank you very _much_!" he said, indignantly. "And the ancestors made me travel-size, so I can help you and still be well hidden. You don't wanna see forty soldiers crying for their Mommies, do you?" Temperance shook her head. "Okay, then. Besides, if I were my true size, I might scare your cow there." He pointed to Wendell, who sent a glare his way and raised a hoof to kick him, sending the dragon three feet in the air, before he fell face-first onto the ground in front of them.

Temperance couldn't fight the chuckle that erupted from her mouth at the sight, even as his head lifted and he sent a withering glare towards her. But that just made her laugh even harder, even snort a couple of times. "Hey!" the dragon whined. "Stop that! Stop it right now!"

Temperance covered her mouth, trying to control her laughter. "Sorry, I just...that was kind of funny." She snorted.

"Yeah? Well, so's that little pig laugh of yours!" the dragon retorted. "Now, as I was saying, your ancestors sent _me_ to protect you, but if I'm gonna do that, you have to at least listen to me!"

"_Listen_ to you? Why should I do that when you can't even protect _yourself_ from a horse?"

"_Because_ your ancestors sent me and you _have _to respect their judgment, don't you?"

Temperance frowned, a look of contemplation coming over her features. "I guess so..." Suddenly her eyes brightened as she looked past the dragon. "Zack? What is he doing here?"

Zack smiled and hopped forward towards Temperance, jumping right into her hands and chirping happily. Parker just lifted his eyebrows and shook his head. "This is _not_ going to be easy..."

Temperance glared at him. "Hey! Listen, I can do this, alright? I spent nearly half my life watching my brother being taught by my father the ways of war and it's not that hard! I can do this!"

"Are you sure? Because you look a bit bony to me. Hey, I know! I'll call you Bones! How about that? You've got yourself a nickname!"

Temperance's glare intensified. "Call me that and I'll let Wendell eat you."

"Who's that again?"

Temperance motioned towards the horse, who seemed to be smiling quite evilly at the dragon.

He shuddered. "Alright, alright! I won't call you that! Jeez! Now, don't you want to know _my_ name?"

Temperance shrugged. "I guess so... what is it?"

"Parker. No last name. Just Parker." he gave her a cocky smirk.

"Interesting." Temperance deadpanned. "Can we go now? I sorta need to check in with the Captain."

Parker nodded. "Of course! Get up and start walking, Missy! I'll just catch a lift on your little cow here." Parker moved to mount the horse but Wendell sent him a death glare that made him back away. "On second thought, I'll just walk with you. I'll stay fit that way."

Temperance chuckled. "Whatever makes you happy."

**Okay, _next_ chapter you'll meet the guys. Sorry, but my eyes are burning pretty bad right now and I can't really see what I'm writing very well, but I DID find something really interesting I wanna show you guys that I found on this Bones website. The link is below. Anyways, until next time, REVIEW!**

http : / bonesspoilers . Blogspot . Com /2012/01/ spoiler-chat-january-23 . html


	9. Chapter 8

**UPDATE! Time to meet the guys!**

Chapter Eight

As Temperance walked up to the army campsite, she began to feel lightheaded and she could practically feel the butterflies in her stomach at the sight of so many 'natural' men in their armor, walking among the camp as if it were the most natural thing in the world to be serving their country, which it probably was. After all, while young women were trained in the ways of the dutiful wife and doting mother, young men were often trained for the possibility of combat, so it really came as no surprise that they acted as if it were just every other day, walking around their home villages.

Temperance was getting so nervous that she would be found out the second she stepped foot in the camp that, without pausing, she just turned herself and Wendell around and began walking back into the forest, nonchalantly.

Then she paused, only because Parker stepped in her way, looking up at her with his hands on his hips, and a stern, angry look on his face. "Where do you think _you're_ going?" he demanded.

Temperance sighed and stepped around him. "I can't do this. I'm going home." she informed him, casually, but inside she felt the heart-clenching pain of dishonor in her chest.

Parker stepped in her way again. "Home? Why? We just got here!"

"I'm not cut out for this, Parker. I'm just a woman. I'll never be like any of them." She looked over her shoulder and Parker followed her gaze, catching sight of three...odd-looking soldiers.

One was a bearded man, talking to another man boasting about tattoos that he claimed would protect him from harm. The man looked inquisitive for a second, before landing a gut-wrenching punch to the other's midsection, then laughing out loud as a particularly long and bony-looking man came up behind him and clapped him on the shoulder. "Good going, Hodgins!" he said, his voice slightly accented. "Did you know that-"

The bearded man, Hodgins, held up his hand, stopping the man from continuing. "None of your pointless facts right now, Vincent, or I might just have to pop _you_ one." Vincent gulped and held both of his hands up in surrender.

Suddenly, a quite large man came up behind them, with a smile that perfectly matched his body; big and chubby. He grabbed both men in a bone-crushing hug. "My friends!" he exclaimed, but it was more serene and calm than anything. "Why must you solve problems with your fists? Why not calm words over good food? That would be much more reasonable. And tasty. When is lunch, anyway? I'm hungry." At this thought, he dropped both friends and rubbed his large stomach.

Hodgins glared up at him. "Gordon-Gordon, you just ate breakfast!"

"Yes, and half of mine!" Vincent practically whined. "How can you be so hungry already?"

Gordon-Gordon shrugged as his eyes floated towards the chow line, where soldiers were still getting their first helpings of breakfast. His legs immediately began to walk him towards it while his comrades attempted to pull him back.

Parker raised his eyebrows at the small group of men that Temperance had claimed she'll 'never be like', then he looked up at her. "Why would you want to?"

"Um...because they're _real_ men. Real soldiers." Temperance said, as if there should be a big 'duh' attached to the end of her sentence.

"Those aren't real soldiers!" Parker insisted. "You! _You're _a real soldier, Bones. You're risking life, limb, and your family's honor just to be here, protecting your country and your father. Most of them are here just because they have to be, but you...you're here because it's the right thing to do! Now, if that doesn't make you a real soldier, I don't know what does." He gave her a proud smile, and she smiled back, softly, a small blush appearing on her face.

"Thanks, Parker." she asked. "But that still doesn't make me a real man. What if I'm found out? I don't know how to be a real man. I can't even sound like a real man."

"Yes, you can." Parker insisted. "Just try harder. Take a deep breath." Temperance did so. "And let it out, slowly." She did. "Now, deepen your voice slightly, but don't force it." Temperance nodded. "Now say, 'Hello, my name is...whatever your brother's name is."

Temperance scowled at him. "Russ. His name is..._was_ Russ." She took another deep breath, before speaking, in a naturally deeper voice than usual. "Hello, my name is Russ Brennan. I'm here to enlist in the army and fight for my country."

Parker grinned, forcibly. "That was...great." It was horrible, but hopefully nobody would notice. "Now, let's get you set up in camp!" He began pulling Temperance's pant leg, guiding her to the camp, Wendell and Zack trailing behind them.

As soon as they came in sight of the other men, Parker raced to be hidden in her armor and began instructing her on her walk. "Feet apart! Knees together! Stand tall! Head up! Now, strut!" She was quite a sight to be seen as she marched into camp and as soon as she realized that all the other soldiers were staring at her, her strut started to waver, turning back into her normal, cautious walk, feeling like a fool for listening to the small red dragon in the first place.

She walked among the rest of the men, sure that they could see past her shoddy disguise, trying her hardest to look like a man, clenching her jaw to make it look more pronounced, and keeping her shoulders up to make them look broader and more manly.

She spotted the captain's table in almost no time and walked up to it, bowing to her superior and placing the army summons in front of the familiar-looking young man. "Name?" he asked, in a stern, authoritative voice.

"Te-uh...Bones Brennan!" she exclaimed, trying to save herself from the mistake she almost made, but ended up making an even stupider one.

"Bones?" the captain asked, his deep brown eyes inquisitive and wearing an almost-humorous smirk.

"Uh...well...Bones is just my nickname. My real name is Russ." she tried to save herself, cursing herself internally at the same time for spouting out the loathed nickname.

"O-kay..." the captain said, lifting one quizzical brow. "Um...which do you prefer. Bones or Russ?"

"Uh...either is fine...sir." Temperance answered.

The captain shrugged. "Welcome aboard, Bones." He stuck out his hand. "My name is Captain Seeley Booth. You shall address me only as Captain or Booth or Captain Booth, but never by my first name. I hate my first name." He smiled, jokingly at her and she laughed, taking it as a joke.

"Ah ha ha." she laughed, in her faux man voice. "Good one, Captain." She shook his hand, feeling a surprising and somewhat alarming shock run up her arm at his touch, but shook it off, assuming that this is what always happened when men shook hands. After all, women were not to shake hands with other women or even men, just to bow in respect, so she really had no idea what happened when they did, but this must have been perfectly natural.

Right?

**I hope y'all are happy with the choices I made for the three stooges xD. Oh, and guess which movie was on Disney today? Did you guess? MULAN! Mulan was on Disney this morning! What are the odds, right? LOLZ! Anyways, please REVIEW!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Update! Nothing much to do today so you might get a second chapter today if I'm up to it. Otherwise, I hope you still enjoy this one!**

Chapter Nine

After Temperance received her tent assignment and schedule (meals, training sessions, etc.) she headed over to the horse posts to tie up Wendell's reigns, promising to be back soon, then gave him some oats and took her bags to her tent.

Parker and Zack followed her to the tent, Parker going over 'man'nerisms with her, while Zack chirped in every now and then with his own advice, which had to be roughly translated by Parker.

Temperance just ignored them both as she got to setting up her bed in a far corner of the tent, after seeing that three other spots were already set up, signifying that she'd be sharing her tent with others. She sighed, hoping that these men weren't the type to sleep in the nude or the type to play pranks on you while you slept. She'd dealt with that plenty when Russ was alive and she'd only been six when he died. But he'd played some pretty mean pranks on her that Temperance was sure most men her age hadn't grown out of yet.

Temperance became more sure of this when one of the men in question entered the tent. The young man who'd punched another man out before, right in front of her, was standing at the entrance of the tent, glaring at her until she looked up at him with a quizzical look on her face.

"What?" she demanded, trying to sound tough, but her voice wavered and cracked slightly, causing it to sound like she was still going through puberty, while true for the most part, would've embarrassed and young man her age.

"Who the hell are you?" Hodgins demanded, ignoring her question. "And what are you doing in my tent? Are you planting something to get me kicked out of here? Because, if you are..." He lifted his fist, waving it at her.

Temperance's eyes widened and she put her hands up in surrender. "No. No. She assured him. I was assigned here. I was just setting up my things. No harm, you see?" She motioned around the tent, showing that she hadn't disrupted any of theirs or their roommates thing.

Hodgins eyed her curiously, scrutinizing her with his electric blue gaze that almost perfectly matched hers. "I dunno..." he said. "There's something I don't trust about you. You seem a little off to me."

Temperance forced a casual smile and chuckled slightly. "Nope! I'm just a normal guy. You know, I like to get rough and punch things." She emphasized this point by punching his shoulder and Hodgins looked up at her as if she'd spit on him and she instantly regretted it. Slowly, He raised his fist and brought it back behind his head, getting ready to swing. Temperance flinched and closed her eyes, readying herself for the impact, but it never came.

Tentatively, she opened her eyes, seeing the other, much larger man from before, Gordon-Gordon, they'd called him, holding Hodgins's fist and chanting calming words in him, while Hodgins was attempting to relax. The large man smiled at her, serenely. "Good day." he said, his voice soft and soothing. "My name is Gordon. Gordon Wyatt. And this is Hodgins. We are very pleased to make your acquaintance. Aren't we, Hodgins?"

Hodgins grumbled something that sounded in the affirmative. Temperance smiled, awkwardly. "Uh...likewise." she replied. "M-my name is Russ. Russ Brennan. But you can call me...Bones." she growled out the new nickname, shooting a glare at a concealed Parker, who grinned back and gave her a thumbs up.

"Bones?" Gordon-Gordon asked, quizzically.

Temperance shook her head. "It's a long story." she explained and both men nodded.

"Bones it is, then." Gordon-Gordon said happily. "And we have one more roommate, but I'm afraid he isn't-"

"Hey! Give that back!" A voice rang out from outside.

Gordon-Gordon smiled and placed Hodgins on the floor. "Aah." he said, in his serene voice, there he is. And he sounds to be in a state of great annoyance. Let's go check on him. Shall we?"

Temperance nodded and followed him and Hodgins out of the tent, feeling a shiver on her spine as Parker hid under her armor once more. She rolled her shoulders, attempting to get used to the feeling and not shiver visibly enough to be noticed.

When they stepped outside, the first thing they noticed was the third young man from before, the tall, lanky, skinny one, was jumping up between two more muscular soldiers who were throwing something high above his head to each other, laughing at him as he tried to grab it. "Come on, now!" he cried out. "That was my father's! He took down twenty two invaders with that dagger! He left it to me in confidence that I could take care of it! Now, give it here!"

"Why don't you make us, Noodle-arms?" One of the men laughed, harshly.

"Yeah! Come on, Braniac! Come get it!" The other man grabbed the dagger in the air and held it above his head. He had at least half a foot on the lanky young man, so he was able to keep it away from him until he threw it back to his shorter friend, who, though shorter than the lanky man, was much more dextrous, and was able to throw it around him. Meanwhile the young man, who Gordon-Gordon told Temperance was named Vincent, raced from man-to-man, attempting to grab it back, unsuccessfully.

Finally, Temperance could take no more of it. "Hey!" she called to the taller of the two men. "Enough is enough! Just give it back to him, already!"

The two men paused, the taller of the two holding the dagger above his head, and stared at her, before bursting into fits of laughter. "Little man thinks he's so intimidating with his high voice and delicate stature!"

"Looks more like a little lady, if you ask me!" The other man bellowed.

Temperance blushed, panicking as she was certain now that they could see straight through her disguise. "Hey!" she said, trying to sound indignant, "I-"

"You think _he_ looks like a woman?" Hodgins interrupted, with a harsh laugh. "Ha! You should go look in the mirror, pal!"

The shorter man caught the dagger in the air and, glaring a hole through Hodgins's head, stuck it in his belt, punching Vincent in the gut as he reached for it, and walked over to stand in front of Hodgins, who was about four inches shorter than him. "What's you say, pipsqueak?" the man demanded.

Hodgins stood his ground. "You heard me, Sully." he growled. "If anybody looks like a woman here, it's you. What with that long, girly haircut and those beautifully manicured nails of yours. Not to mention the fact that you probably need some binding to keep those things up." He motioned towards the man's chest, indicating...well, it was sort of obvious what he was indicating to, even to the dunce he was speaking to.

Sully reached out and shoved the shorter man, almost making Hodgins lose his balance, but Gordon-Gordon was right behind him and supported him, pushing him slightly forward, so that his chest met Sully's. Sully glared down at the man, thinking this to be a challenge, and reeled back, bringing his fist to Hodgins's face.

Thankfully, Hodgins ducked in time, but Sully's fist went into Gordon-Gordon's gut, winding the larger man for less than three seconds. Hodgins's eyes popped open when he was hit though, as he regarded his large friend with concern. "Are you okay, man?" he asked, eyes wide.

Gordon-Gordon nodded, unable to speak just yet, and gave Hodgins a thumbs up. The smaller man turned back to Sully with a glare and punched him square in the face, without warning, knocking the man down. The taller of the two men, a dick named Hacker, cried out in rage. "Hey!" he yelled. "What's wrong with you?"

Hodgins turned to him. "You want some, too?" he asked, and Hacker stepped up to him, throwing a punch of his own, which was enough to knock Hodgins's head sideways, but not enough to deter him from throwing a few more punches of his own, more than one landing on the man's jaw.

Soon, all three men were brawling on the ground, prompting others to approach and stand around them, making cheering noises and placing bets on who would be the first 'knock-out', much to Temperance's disgust. She looked up at Gordon-Gordon. "Don't you think we should be trying to stop this? Not encouraging it?"

Gordon-Gordon shook his head. "Best just let them get it out of their system before we start our training. Besides, I think it will stop soon enough." At Temperance's quizzical look he motioned towards the captain and his left-hand man, who were running towards them, angry expressions on both their faces as they approached.

"Hey!" Captain Booth called out, getting no response from anybody but Temperance, herself, who, for some odd reason, blushed at the sight of the muscular young man. "Hey!" he boomed louder. "Cut it out! Stop that!" Still gaining no response, Booth reached in and grabbed one of the men at random, Hacker, and throwing him to the ground.

Hacker was about to complain but when he saw the livid expression of his commanding officer, he shut his mouth and looked away, ashamed of himself.

Booth glared at him and turned to the other two men, still going at it like animals. Reaching in again, he pulled out Hodgins this time, just as Sully was about to land a punch on his face. Instead, his fist swung around, taking down the lanky Vincent instead, effectively knocking him out cold.

As Booth fought to get Hodgins under control, with the help of the ever calm, cool, and collected Gordon-Gordon at his side, Temperance eyed the thoroughly exhausted-looking Sully laying on the ground, trying to catch his breath, and began to tiptoe towards him, reaching out for the dagger tucked into his belt.

Before she could reach it, though, Sully's hand came out and grabbed her wrist. Temperance looked up into his eyes and smiled nervously...just before he flipped her onto her chest, knocking the wind from her lungs, and twisted her arm to her back, putting pressure enough to make it hurt. "What do you think you're doing, lady?" he growled in her ear, laughing as she fought against him. "Aw, is the little girl too weak to fight? Hmm?" he laughed out loud, releasing his grip enough that Temperance was able to get the upper hand as she pulled her arm free and brought her elbow back into his nose, causing Sully to instinctively jerk his body away from hers, enough that she was free to turn over and bring her knee straight to his groin.

Sully yelled out in pain, his voice two or three octaves higher than normal as he grabbed his...err, privates and rolled into a fetal position, rocking his body slightly and moaning in pain.

Temperance grinned at the display of 'un-manliness' and reached over him, plucking the dagger from his belt, and standing up, stretching her muscles a bit before stumbling over to where Vincent was now being attended to by Hodgins and Gordon-Gordon, and was just now coming to.

As he opened his eyes, Vincent came face to face with two pairs of blue eyes and one of brown. The brown eyes were familiar enough, but he could swear Hodgins only had two eyes, not four. It took a couple of seconds to realize that the second pair of blue eyes belonged, in fact, to another soldier, who was looking at him with concern etched in 'his' eyes.

"Vincent, is it?" Temperance asked, her voice deep and manly...enough.

Vincent nodded. "Yes. That's my name. Don't...don't wear it out." He laughed slightly at his own joke.

Temperance lifted one eyebrow at him. "Yes..riiight. Um, does this belong to you, then?" She held up the dagger and Vincent's eyes lit up as he reached up for it, his temporarily impaired hand-eye coordination making him miss it completely.

Temperance chuckled, hoping it didn't sound feminine at all, and placed the dagger firmly in Vincent's hand. "Th-thanks..." Vincent said, with a quavery smile as he drifted back into unconsciousness.

Temperance laughed again and pat his shoulder. "No problem." she assured him, before standing up and brushing herself off.

Gordon-Gordon stood as well, carrying a knocked-out Vincent over his shoulder. "I think I'm going to lay down my friend here. You take care of your...ahem, _other_ business." He looked towards where Sully was still crouched on the floor in pain, Booth and his left-hand man crouched over him, trying to calm him down.

Booth peered up at this moment and caught her eyes, sending her a small, humorous, grin and a slight nod, making Temperance blush and smile back, slightly.

Then his face got serious and he stood up, causing all the chattering that had been going on around them to be halted almost immediately as all the men stood to attention, straining their ears to listen to their commanding officer.

"I am ashamed of all of you." Booth boomed, contradicting his attitude from just a couple of moments ago. "First, I am ashamed of these _dunces_ for starting a fight that could have injured them severely enough to have taken them off the front lines in the first place, and furthermore I'm ashamed of all you for encouraging it, when you should have been promoting peace between your fellow soldiers!" Many of the men had the decency to look ashamed of themselves and a few nudged their comrades, as if blaming them for this. Booth ignored them and went on. "Now, we are in the middle of a war here, meaning that at any moment we could be ambushed and possibly killed. It's our jobs to be prepared for such a happening. To be trained in the ways of the warrior and strategists. In order to preserve the sanctity and safety of our country! So, starting at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning, you will all be handing me your first assignment, which is..." Booth motioned for his left-hand man to join him. The man appeared, introducing himself as Clark Edison, or just Clark, with a stack of papers in his hand. Booth grabbed a paper and held it above his head. "You will all be writing your farewell letters to your family. This means that you will be writing a letter of farewell in case you die!" Many of the men winced, some looked away, as if just the thought would cause their death to hit them there and then. "I'm sorry, guys, but that's the truth. Some of you _will_ die out there, but you will die with honor. Honor on you, honor on your family, and, most importantly, honor on your country, for which you are giving your life! But I will not allow any of you to leave this earth before you are able to say one more heartfelt farewell to your loved ones at home. I will not let that happen. I believe all of you, no matter how thick-headed," he glared down at Sully, "deserve at least that. Now, come get your papers and quills and ink will be handed out amongst your tents. All of you have the rest of the day to get these letters done, but only today. So, make them count."

And with that, Booth turned on his heel and marched towards his own, private tent.

Meanwhile, all the, now sullen, soldiers lined up in front of Clark, grabbing their papers and heading to their own tents, contemplating what they were going to send off to their loved ones, 'just in case'.

But it may have been Temperance, who took hers with heavy, shaky hands, who had the most to say in such little room.

**REVIEWS!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Update! Sorry I didn't update a second chapter yesterday but what with my severe ADD I kept getting distracted by shiny stuff and it took my nearly six hours just to post that one, and then I felt the intense need to drive, so I kidnapped my father and his car keys and we went out for a bit. So, here's your chapter now. Enjoy!**

Chapter Ten

Temperance sat in the tent, alone, looking at her paper, quill in hand, searching her mind for something, _anything_, appropriate to send to her parents and grandmother. She couldn't think of anything, though. Nothing that would do them any justice or lessen the heartache they would feel if they ever received the letter, or the dishonor she had done her family be coming here in the first place.

Temperance put the paper on the floor next to her and lay back on her mat. She'd shed her armor long ago and was now in her casual training clothes, which were much more comfortable and more like pajamas than anything. She looked up at the ceiling of the tent, trying to think about what she'd say to her parents if she could go back to them, if not alive then as some sort of spirit.

But there was nothing to say. Nothing that could justify the fear and despair she was putting them through. Nothing to make them proud of her. Nothing that could take away the obvious shame they probably felt or the pain they would feel if something did happen to her in the battlefield.

Temperance felt tears welling up in her eyes and she reached up to stubbornly wipe them away, fearing that her bunk-mates would be back soon and would call her a sissy for crying, or worse, find out that she was a woman.

Temperance sighed and sat up, reaching for her water jug and spilling some water onto her palm, before wiping her face with it, trying to remove the puffiness from her eyes, before she reached for her paper and quill, finally knowing what to say.

"Dear Father, Mother, and Grandma," she said, whispering aloud to herself as she wrote. "I'm sorry for bringing dishonor to the family. Love, Temperance."

"Temperance?" a voice asked from the tent's entrance.

Temperance jumped and turned her head towards the entrance. Her heart, close to popping out of her chest, almost burst as she saw Captain Booth kneeling there, his brown eyes inquisitive.

"Oh!" she said, hiding the paper. "Hello, Captain. I...I didn't see you there."

Booth grinned. "That's okay. You seemed a bit preoccupied with your letter. You're the only one who's not done with it yet."

Temperance blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I...um, I just couldn't find the right words, you know? Writing is so difficult, especially when I have to think of how this will be getting to my family."

Booth nodded in understanding. "I know how you feel. I've had to write at least a dozen of those in the last few years. I've been in the army since I could enlist."

"Since you were twelve?" Temperance asked.

Booth nodded. "Yeah, well my dad's an army guy and my brother and I are his only two sons, so he wanted to make sure we got started as soon as we could. He's been training us since we could walk, but this is my first big war. The last one ended when I was ten. Then, when I was twelve I went into training. My first battle was six months later. That's when I wrote my first letter to my mother."

"Just your mother?" Temperance asked. "Nobody else?"

Booth shook his head. "Nope. I don't have any sisters and Jared was too young. If I had died then, I doubt he'd even remember me. Or even care that I was gone after the fact. He actually just began his training now. And my dad...he was the one that was supposed to send the letter anyway."

"What did you write?"

Booth shrugged. "What every twelve-year old on the field probably wrote. That I loved her, that I tried my best for her. That I hoped I'd made her proud. You know, kid stuff."

Temperance nodded. "I understand. That must have been hard."

Booth shrugged. "Yeah, but I dealt with it." They were silent for a moment. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course." Temperance nodded.

"Who is Temperance?"

Temperance's eyes widened to saucers for half a second before she composed herself. "Uh...she's my...sister. She's my little sister. We're very close."

Seeley nodded. "I see. Is she anything like you?" He said this with some humor in his voice, as if jokingly. Temperance understood this. No man seriously wanted to know what a woman was like. And it was especially a turn off if she was like her brother or father. It implied being manly.

"I guess so." Temperance answered, knowing that the captain would never meet her as a woman. "She looks like me, if that's what you mean. And she's pretty feisty."

"Aren't they all?" Booth joked. Temperance forced out a laugh, smiling awkwardly.

"Heh. Yeah..." she said. "But it's pretty cute on her. She's still young. She'll learn."

Booth nodded. "I guess so. Are you close to her?"

Temperance nodded. "Yeah...Captain, I don't mean to be rude but why are you asking me all these questions?"

It was like a switch went off somewhere, because Booth went from being good-humored to serious in about a millisecond. "No reason." He said, backing up toward the entrance of the tent. "Just trying to get to know my soldiers a little better before you all think I'm an ass come training time. Sorry if I'm bothering you. I'll just..."

"No. That's fine." Temperance said, stopping him. "I was just...I was just wondering is all. But, I...I'm starting to get tired. I'm just gonna...um, hit the sack."

Booth's face lightened, once more. "Okay. Wise decision. Training begins with the sunrise. You better be up and ready. No breakfast until you've completed your first task." He warned. "Good night, soldier."

Temperance nodded, blushing as she made eye contact. "Goodnight, Captain."

Booth kept eye contact with her for a few more moments before blinking and ducking out of the tent.

Temperance felt her heart beat wildly in her chest as she looked back at her letter and sighed. "I love you." she whispered, before folding the letter and sealing it with wax from her candle. She placed one kiss on the letter and prayed that her family never see it before tucking it under her pillow and laying down, willing herself to sleep before the long day ahead of her approached.

**REVIEWS! Perhaps I'll bring my laptop to school tomorrow and write a bit while I'm there. But only if I have enough reason to do so. ;-D**


	12. Chapter 11

**Update! Now, I'm tired so this may be a bit short, but I still hope you appreciate the effort!**

Chapter Eleven

Temperance woke up the next morning to two realizations. The first being that she had somehow made it all the way across the tent with her feet poking out the front flap and her body wrapped like a cocoon in her blanket so that her arms were practically tied to her body.

The second being that she was all alone in her tent and the sun was shining down on her through the front flap.

Her eyes popped open at the latter realization and she immediately sat up, and, in a frenzy to get dressed and out on the battlefield, ripped through her blankets (or at least untangled herself from them) and gathered her sword, fixed her hair, and raced out of the tent, hopping to put on her shoes in the process.

She made it to the training grounds in less than a minute, leaning against a tree and huffing to catch her breath, wiping the sweat from her brow and sleep from her eyes. When she finally caught her breath, she looked around and saw everybody else staring at her.

Her blue eyes widened in confusion. "What?" she asked. "I overslept."

"Which is why," a voice said, from behind her, "you will not understand our first mission." Temperance jumped at the voice and spun around, seeing Captain Booth standing there, a bow and arrow in his hands. "Mr. Brennan, nice to see you've finally pulled yourself from the throws of sleep. Do you have your letter?"

Temperance nodded dumbly, at a loss for words at the sight of the muscular Booth, shirtless and glistening with sweat, his training pants hung low on his hips. She pulled the letter from her belt and handed it to him. Booth took it, their hands brushing slightly, sending a shiver up both arms (though neither could pinpoint why) and causing them both to retract their hands almost as if they'd been burned.

Their eyes locked for a millisecond before Booth coughed, awkwardly. "Okay, then." he said, motioning for Clark to join them. "Here." he handed him Temperance's letter. "Put this with the rest." Clark nodded and took the letter, before bowing and running back to the Captain's tent to put the letters with the others. Booth turned back to the men, who were all standing there, staring at him, waiting for him to say something. "The first task, as I have explained, is to retrieve this arrow," he held up the arrow, "from wherever it may land when I shoot it. Does that sound reasonable enough?" Two dozen nods. "Okay, good."

Booth walked towards them and most men moved away to give him space while he looked for somewhere to aim the arrow, looking towards Temperance, he smiled and raised the bow, aiming straight for her. Temperance's eyes opened in feet and she immediately cowered, closing her eyes and ducking away, the sound of the bow releasing causing her heart to jump in her chest. Cracking one eye open, she came face-to-face with the Captain's smirk. He motioned with his eyes to look up and she did so.

What Temperance thought was a tree, was actually a large, wooden pole, with a flat surface at the top. Also, at the top of the pole was the arrow that Booth had shot, perfectly, he might add, in the center. Temperance stared at the arrow in awe, before looking at Booth. "G-good shot, Captain." she stammered.

Booth grinned cockily, causing somewhat of a fluttering sensation in Temperance's stomach. "Thanks, Bones." he said, his eyes twinkling with good humor, before getting serious again, as he turned to the rest of his troop. "Now, whoever is able to get me that arrow will earn two extra hours of one-on-one training and the chance to stand by my side for the first battle, a great honor, I assure you. Now," he threw the bow down next to a quiver of arrows. "Who wants to go first?"

**Sorry it's so short but I can't keep my eyes open right now and I have school in the morning. More soon, I promise! REVIEW!**


	13. Chapter 12

**UPDATE! Again, I'm so tired it's hard to just keep my eyes open so this may be another short chapter, but I hope that doesn't mean you'll enjoy it any less!**

Chapter Twelve

Nobody said anything for the longest time. Most of the men were afraid to breathe, lest the Captain take them as a volunteer for this very undesirable task.

Then Hodgins, ever the tough guy, stepped forward. "I'll do it!" he volunteered, gruffly, receiving a pat on the back from Vincent. "And I'll do it with my shirt _on,_ thank you very much."

Booth chuckled. "By all means, Mr. Hodgins." He stepped aside to watch, grinning as Hodgins began his ascent up the pole, grunting slightly as he lost his grip the first two feet up and slid down slightly. "Oh, wait, Hodgins!" Booth said. "There's something I forgot."

Hodgins turned his head and, losing his focus, fell to the ground with a loud, 'oof!'. He glared at Booth. "What?" he growled. "What could you possibly have for me? I don't need any help getting up there, you know. I'm doing just fine on my own."

Booth's grin widened and he motioned Clark over. "Of course you are, Mr. Hodgins. That's just the problem, though." Clark reached his side, carrying a box that looked to be much heavier than it seemed, struggling under its weight. Without a moment's pause, Seeley flipped open the box and pulled out two heavy, gold medallions. "You'll need these." he said, holding them towards Hodgins, who's stood up and was now brushing himself up.

"What are those?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"This," Booth said, handing him one of the medallions, nearly causing Hodgins to tip over by the weight, "stands for honor. And this one," he handed Hodgins the other, "stands for pride. You must carry both of these with you as you ascend the pole."

Hodgins struggled visibly under the weight of the medallions, but tried to keep a straight face as he slipped one on each of his arms. "Sounds simple enough." he said, nonchalantly. "Yeah, I can so do this."

Booth grinned. "I hope so. It might be fun to spar with you for a while. See what you can really do. Now, go ahead."

Hodgins smiled, almost manically as he got a sudden burst of adrenaline and ran at the pole, grabbing it with both hands and beginning his climb to the top.

He didn't get but six inches off the ground before the weight of the medallions became too much and he slid back to the ground, his arms weighed down by the heaviness of the gold. Booth just grinned at him and let out a soft snort. "Next." he said, helping Hodgins up. "How about..._you. _Weird accent kid. What's your name?"

"Vincent, sir. Vincent Nigel-Murray. Or Vince, Vin, Vinnie, Vincenzo. I had a friend of mine once call me Vi-" Booth held up a hand to stop him.

"Vincent, just take the medallions and climb the pole already." He said, depositing both medallions into Vincent's hands. Vincent immediately fell to the ground with their weight and was almost unable to make it to the pole, even by dragging them across the floor.

He stood there for the longest time, just looking up at the arrow, then back at the medallions, then the arrow again, and attempted to lift his arms, but no such luck. The medallions wouldn't budge. He looked at Booth, who was shaking his head, and shrugged. "Sorry." he said, allowing the medallions to slip off his arms and hanging his head as he walked to stand with the other soldiers, a few of which (Sully and Hacker among them) laughing at him and shooting him looks.

"Mr. Wyatt?" Booth called next.

Gordon-Gordon stepped up to the pole and picked up the medallions easily enough, wrapping them around his thick, meaty hands, before he looked up the pole and wrapped his arms around it, attempting to get a strong enough grip before using his feet to slowly move him up.

Gordon-Gordon made it at least three feet before he began to lose his grip and he lost his footing, causing him to drop straight down to the ground and, in turn, for the ground to shake below their feet.

Booth shook his head, not even bothering to smile now, as a sense of despair came over him. He peered up, catching Temperance's eye and on a whim he called out to her. "Bones? How about you try? Maybe you can show these losers how it's done."

Temperance's eyes widened as she looked up the pole, estimating the pole to be about twenty-five feet above her head. She sighed and nodded, walking over to Gordon-Gordon to receive the weights.

She grunted as he placed them on her arms but was strong enough from farm work that she was able to hold them up. Hopefully long enough to make it to the top of the pole.

Temperance stepped up to the pole, after getting an encouraging pat on the back from Gordon-Gordon, and took a deep breath. "You can do it, Bones. Just climb the pole." Parker whispered in her ear.

Temperance glared at the pole, resisting the urge to look down and around the pole where she knew he was crouched, ready to give her advice, if needed.

"Shh." she growled, under her breath, as she took another breath and wrapped her arms around the pole and hopped up, wrapping her legs just as tightly and beginning her own ascent up to the pole.

After three feet, she could feel the burn and ache in her muscles start to wear on her, but she fought on.

After six feet, it became almost unbearable, but still, she went on, knowing that the reward would surely be worth the effort.

After the tenth foot, she felt her hands begin to slip with sweat and she finally gave up, allowing herself to fall slowly and carefully, before finally reaching the ground and falling backwards, actually passing out for a couple of minutes.

She was awakened by a cool splash of water to her face. Her eyes opened and immediately locked onto a pair of soft brown ones and she almost forgot herself, smiling slightly at Booth, before remembering where she was and how she knew him...and the fact that he thought she was a man.

Booth, seeing that one of his more...normal and well-liked soldiers was good and well, sighed as he helped Temperance up. Once she was situated on her feet and no longer dizzy or nauseated or in any way about to pass out, Booth sighed and shook his head.

"We've got _a lot_ of work to do."

**BED! Uh...I mean REVIEWS!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Update! **

Chapter Thirteen

Captain Booth's first task was simple enough...to Booth, of course.

He would toss three apples in the air for each soldier as they stepped up and shot three simultaneous arrows, each trying to pin the three apples to a tree fifty yards away.

At first, Temperance thought that Booth was joking (this couldn't possibly work!) but then the Captain threw up three apples in front of himself and as quick as humanly possible he had his bow out, aimed, and shot each apple perfectly, sending them hurtling towards the tree, where they were pinned.

Temperance and the rest of the troop stood there, slack-jawed and wide eyed, staring at the apples now pinned to the tree as Booth went on to explain how it would be done and began calling them by up, one by one.

Hodgins was first, again. He stepped up to Booth and retrieved his own bow and a quiver of arrows. Booth attempted to instruct him on how to position the arrows, but he refused instruction, telling the Captain, in the kindest of ways, to get lost as he aimed the arrows towards the trees, nodding to Booth to throw up the apples, which he did with grace, watching with amusement as two of the three arrows fell straight to the ground and the third barely made it three feet before it knocked into one of the apples—but didn't pierce it—and fell to the ground, much to Hodgins's chagrin.

Booth grinned at the shorter, bearded man as his face became red with anger. "Next." he called, sending Hodgins back to stand with the rest of the troop.

Vincent came up the stand and retrieved the bow, setting up his own arrows. "Did you know," he said, "that another word for archery is toxophily? Quite an interesting word, if you ask me."

Booth sighed. "But nobody asked, Vincent. So just shoot, please." He threw up the apples and Vincent shot his bow, somewhat shakily, each arrow flying off in a separate direction, one nearly catching Booth's head.

Thankfully, Booth ducked out right in time.

"Next!" he yelled, causing Vincent to flinch and scurry back to the crowd.

Gordon-Gordon stepped up for his turn, then Hacker, then Sully, none even coming close to getting an arrow through any of the apples.

Then Temperance stepped up, and set up her arrows without a word from her or Booth until she said, "Go." and he tossed the apples.

Temperance was about to shoot the arrows, when suddenly one disappeared from the bow, but only for an instant, and it was back on her bow before she knew it...with an apple speared on it. Temperance's eyes widened and she shot the bow, accidentally, sending all three arrows flying into the tree, neither of the two remaining arrows even coming close to catching an apple.

As each and every eye focused on her arrows, claps and cheers broke out as they saw the apple now speared to the tree...That is, until Booth counted the three apples on the floor.

"Bones!" he scolded. "Drop the bow and give me five laps around the campgrounds! In fact, why don't you _all_ give me five laps? And you can thank Bones, the cheater, Brennan!"

All eyes turned on Temperance, whose arms dropped at her sides and caused the bow in her hand to drop. She gave them an uneasy smile as their stares turned into harsh glares and a few of them stepped towards her, looking positively violent.

Temperance sent them a little wave before turning on her heel and beginning her brisk jog, turning into an almost desperate run, around the camp.

As she ran, she felt Parker slithering around under her shirt, which, thankfully, had an undershirt underneath. "Why are you running?" he asked, whispering in her ear.

"Why do you think?" Temperance hissed, under her breath. "The Captain thinks I cheated!"

"Why would he think that?" Parker asked, innocently.

"Me? Why would _you_ do that? He could have kicked me right out of here if he wanted, Parker!"

"Oh, he wouldn't do that!" Parker insisted. "You're teacher's favorite!"

Temperance tried to scoff, but found that it took too much breath, causing her to slow her pace, which is something she wasn't too keen to do. "That's ridiculous!" she insisted. "I'm just another soldier. He had plenty of them here, which is why I have to tread carefully. No more cheating!" she scolded.

"Fine." Parker huffed. "Suit yourself. The short bully guy is gaining on you, by the way."

Temperance's eyes widened as she looked over her shoulder and saw a very angry looking Sully running barely a foot from her, teeth gritted and eyes murderous.

She gasped and began to speed up, praying that it would get easier...and fast.

**REVIEWS!**

**Also, I want to take a moment to say RIP to a young girl who died in a town nearby me yesterday. Eira Maghuyop was only fourteen years old and took her own life due to cyber-bullying. I didn't know her, personally, but when I heard about what happened, I nearly broke down crying. Nobody deserves the treatment that brought her to suicide, and I hope that all of you, my readers, don't condone this treatment or bully anybody yourselves, though I'm quite certain you don't. And, please, if you see stuff like this happening, to anybody and not just your own friends, report it to somebody, because it can be stopped before it gets too out of hand. And if you see anybody, anybody at all, who looks like they may be depressed or anything similar to what you imagine Eira might have been going through, speak up. Let them know that you're there for them, that they have something to live for. Don't stay silent. Look at what happens when we're silent.**


	15. Chapter 14

**Update! Sorry it's so late, but I've been pretty busy at school. Does anybody know what Jazz Co is? For those who don't, it's a High School dance organization that is present at most schools, teaching dances to a large group of students and at the end of the program, they do a performance. I'm not in Jazz Co. but my club has set up a concession stand to raise money for our Spring Musical (Beauty and the Beast =D) which is about to break us before we even start it, and I've volunteered to work all days (Even tomorrow, Super Bowl Sunday) and with school starting up again, I've just been exhausted, but I promise that I'll make every effort to keep this story going on schedule. Okay, enough with the absurdly long AN and on with the story! Enjoy!**

Chapter Fourteen

Temperance collapsed to the ground beside her tent, completely spent, and lay her head on a rock, closing her eyes and focusing on evening out her breathing.

Captain Booth, who wasn't nearly satisfied with the results of their jog, and who was still pissed about her cheating at archery, had taken out his annoyance on the rest of the troop, making up more tasks, much harder and exhausting than archery or jogging, to train them at.

First there was fishing, which they would all have to learn for their dinners, once they were actually moving on to the battle front and the cook would be left behind (much to Gordon-Gordon's chagrin).

Temperance had been doing well enough at first, watching Booth with rapt attention (and a tingling feeling in her chest she couldn't explain) as he demonstrated how to catch a fish with his bare hands and how to hold it so that it wouldn't get away. Temperance was amazed with his precision and speed as he seemed to just simply plunge his hand into the water, if only for a millisecond, before pulling out a large, wriggling fish. He held it by the tail in a vice-like grip, keeping it from slipping away as it fought for freedom.

"Has everybody been watching?" he asked the troops, his eyes lingering slightly on Temperance before quickly flitting away from her. She, as well as the rest of the men, nodded. "Good." Booth said, nodding. "Now, you try." He released the fish back into the water and watched as his men attempted to catch their own kill.

Almost all had succeeded, too...except, of course, for Temperance.

She tried, really she did, but the damn fish that she had her eye one kept jumping away every time she reached for it, but never left the area she was standing. Temperance tried to spear her hand in the water again and again, but every time she did the fish jumped and landed in a different location, before swimming back to her, as if taunting her.

Temperance narrowed her eyes at the creature as she tried one more time to catch it, but the damn fish, swished it's tail at her and sent a stream of water right into her face, causing Temperance to sputter and fall back in shock.

Booth just stood there, looking down at her and shaking his head as she got owned by a fish. "Next task!" he called out to the rest of the troop. "Come on, men! Look alive!" He turned away from Temperance, sitting there in shame in the stream, and began jogging towards the field where their next task would begin.

Temperance sighed, and achingly stood up. This was going to be a long day.

And it was.

After the fishing debacle, Booth had all the men strapped with weights on their backs and run five miles around a nearby mountain, just to 'limber up' for their next task.

All the men grumbled about it, understandably, but they all got strapped and ran without complaint, completely focused on making it to their next task. Temperance, though, ran at the back of the pack, feeling as if her muscles could give out any minute under all the extra weight.

And, of course, they did. Temperance fell back so far and attempted to speed up but the effort made her head swim and she found herself staring at gray spots in front of her eyes and her legs giving out.

Before she knew it, she staring up at the blue sky and half a dozen faces were looking down at her, some worried, others amused. Only one was angry.

"Bones," Booth growled, "give me your pack."

Temperance debated whether or not to argue with him about it, but sensing that now was definitely not the time to do so, she unstrapped her pack and handed it to the Captain, before being brought to her feet by Gordon-Gordon.

"Thanks." she said, to the much larger man, and he smiled kindly at her, before running to catch up with the rest of the troop, who'd already resumed running. Temperance stretched for a moment before running after them, feeling more energetic now that there was no added weight, but feeling somewhat fatigued by the shame she had just brought on herself.

The next task is what brought her to collapse.

They were doing sparring sessions now, with the Captain himself. Each would have three minutes to prove that they could hold their own in one-on-one battle with the Captain, and if they passed, they were allowed to get food from the cook, and call it a night. If they didn't, they were to leave for they were obviously not suited for war.

One by one, soldiers went up, each proving his worth by lasting _at least_ the three minutes allotted, before they would be taken down by Booth. Even _Vincent_ proved himself, mostly by dodging blows left and right and moving around like a snake, attempting to disorient its prey.

But then Temperance stepped up, took a punch to the eye, which almost immediately began to bruise, and was knocked out cold.

She woke up a few minutes later to the handsome, but angry face of her superior, holding out the reigns to her horse. Wendell looked at her with concern etched into his long face, and Temperance looked back at him, dishonor and shame etched into hers.

"You may gather your things from your tent but I expect you gone by morning." Booth had told her, gruffly. "I'm sorry, Bones, but you're just not suited for war. Have a nice life."

With that last thought, he left, and Temperance felt an ache in her chest that she couldn't explain as anything else but shame.

Though, she was sure there was something else there, as well. Something she'd never felt before that day.

She just couldn't place it.

**Guess what next chapter brings ;-D. REVIEW!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Update! **

Chapter Fifteen

Temperance just lay there awhile, her bag packed at her side and her bunk mates snoring away in their own corners of the tent. When she'd explained to them what had happened, they'd been confused, almost scared, because they'd all thought that Temperance was the Captain's favorite, and if she didn't make it...

What hope was there for the rest of them?

They were also upset by her leaving. Hodgins had felt as if, out of all the men at the training camp, she was the most tolerable to be around, while Vincent felt grateful for the day she'd helped him when they first arrived and Gordon-Gordon was going to miss having somebody seemingly as peaceful as he was (peaceful meaning she didn't pick fights like most of the other men did, and instead avoided confrontation like the Plague).

They were all sad that 'Bones' was leaving and asked that she write to them (Vincent asked to be set up with 'Bones's' sister, Temperance, specifically and Temperance took that as enough reason to punch him...not _hard_) and let them know when they could meet up after the war, supposing that they make it out of the war in one piece (this piece of cynicism brought to you by one Jack Hodgins).

After that, things were pretty much quiet as all tried to get some sleep before having to wake up at dawn for more training (or, In Temperance's case, return home). Temperance, though, found it increasingly difficult to fall asleep with the cloud of disappointment hanging over her head and found herself instead crawling past the sleeping bodies, out of the tent, and sitting in the dewy grass, looking up at the full moon that cast a blue glow over the rest of the campgrounds.

"How could I have been so stupid?" She whispered to herself, shaking her head.

And, really, how could she have been? She had stolen her father's most sacred possessions, cut her long, beautiful hair, and gone into the army, impersonating her brother, who'd been dead for ten years. A crime that, if she were caught, could have gotten her killed and lost her entire family respect, respect that they have worked centuries to gain. All this trouble, for what? For a dishonorable discharge because she wasn't suited for war?

What did that mean? Was she so much of a screw up that she couldn't even keep up enough to keep up her family's honor. She couldn't do a few tasks that probably were no harder than her chores home on the farm?

Was she really that stupid?

"No." Temperance said, aloud, startling herself. She wasn't stupid. That much was true. She was more educated than most of the women in her village and her natural IQ was well above average...at least, that's what Christine told her, but perhaps that was just her being a typical mother figure. But, she wasn't the only one.

All Temperance's teachers growing up have told her that she possessed intelligence that far surpassed her years and the gender role that many of the men in the village had set for her, and a few of them actually attempted to raise the schooling age for women in their village, to no avail, because of her.

But, did that truly mean that she was smart, no just intellectually, but also in the sense that she had common knowledge? Knowledge enough that she should know better than to do something this...

Well, there really was no word for it, was there?

Only the question of what had she been thinking when she joined the army under such a dangerous ruse?

The answer came right away; she had been trying to save her father.

Because he was injured.

Because if he had gone back into the army, if he had fought in the war again, he would have been surely killed.

_That's _what she had been thinking.

But over the last few hours, it became less about her father, and more about her. About what she was out to prove.

Which was...?

Well, Temperance couldn't really pinpoint it, but she knew it had nothing to do with giving up and everything to do with proving to everybody, herself included, that no matter if she were a man or a woman, she could do this.

She just had to prove it.

Temperance redirected her view from the moon to the pole, standing just a few yards from her tent, the arrow still stuck in the wood above her head since nobody had been able to get far enough to finally reach it.

Then she looked towards the ground of the pole, where the medallions sat, glinting in the moonlight. Temperance eyed them with furrowed brows, then looked back at the pole, then back to the medallions, calculating in her mind what she could...

Suddenly, her eyes widened as a thought came to her and, acting on that whim, she stood and walked, confidently, towards them, picking up each medallion and securing them around each of her forearms, before stepping up to the pole and taking a deep breath,

Without a second thought, she flung her arms around the pole, locking the two heavy medallions in a tight embrace with each other. Temperance pulled the medallions firmly, testing them to make sure that they wouldn't give before beginning her ascent up the pole, using the medallions to pull herself, little by little, up the pole.

Ten minutes passed, then twenty, and soon she was halfway there, sweating profusely and grunting quite audibly as she fought to hold on. She paused every now and then to catch her breath and even out her breathing before continuing on her way, working even harder than before.

Another twenty minutes and she was three quarters of the way up. Some of the men had heard her grunting and had crawled out of their tents to see what was going on, their eyes widening in surprise as they saw 'Bones' Brennan climbing up the pole, nearly completing what they'd all spent hours upon hours attempting to do.

They began cheering her on, calling out her nickname and clapping loudly, waking up the others in the camp, and, eventually, Captain Booth was pulled from sleep and his tent by all the commotion his soldiers were making and joined them outside, shirtless and cloudy-eyed from sleep.

"What's going on?" he asked a nearby soldier.

The soldier turned to him with a large smile. "It's Brennan, Captain!" he exclaimed. "He's climbing the pole! He's going to get the arrow!"

Booth's eyes widened. "Bones?" he turned towards the pole, his eyes widening further when he sees the soldier he told, not twelve hours ago, to leave the camp and go home, almost at the top of the pole, her face just inches from the arrow. "Yeah, Bones!" He exclaimed, smiling. "Come on, Brennan! Just a few more feet!"

Temperance paused at the familiar, very masculine voice as it called her name and turned her head in the direction from where it comes, nearly losing her grip when she sees her captain, shirtless, standing outside his tent, smiling up at her and cheering her name.

Temperance smiled at him and found herself filled with more energy and pride than she'd ever felt before as she puts more effort into reaching the top of the pole, reaching it within a few moments and taking a seat on top, pulling the arrow from it's resting spot on her way and throwing it towards the ground near the Captain, and smiling as it spears the ground just a few feet in front of him.

Booth, however, doesn't notice the arrow. All he can seem to focus on is the curious soldier sitting high up on the twenty foot pole, smiling back at him, blue eyes shining in the moonlight.

And no matter how hard he tries, he can't wipe the smile off his face.

**REVIEW for more!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Update! **

Chapter Sixteen

The second Temperance touched back on the ground she was surrounded by the men in her troop, patting her on the back and congratulating her on her success. Gordon-Gordon even stepped up behind her and picked her up to rest on his shoulder, while the men crowded around and cheered for her. In fact, it wasn't until Captain Booth himself stepped up to congratulate her that everybody started to dissipate and return to their respective tents, clapping her once more on the shoulders in congrats before walking off.

Gordon-Gordon placed her back on the ground and helped her take off the medallions, which she'd barely noticed with all the excitement and euphoria around her accomplishment. When they were finally off and she turned to bring them back to the pole, she found herself staring into the deep brown, gorgeous eyes of her superior.

She gasped in surprise and nearly swallowed her tongue when he smiled that charming, manly smile of his. "Captain." She practically choked at him when their eyes met. She cleared her throat before speaking again. "I-I'm so-sorry for waking you. I-I'll just b-be on my w-way..." She turned to walk around him, but his hand on her arm stopped her, sending shivers up her arm and down her spine. Her eyes flew up to meet his once more and she nearly blushed at the intensive stare he was hitting her with.

Booth had reached out to grab Bones's arm almost instinctively, not able to pinpoint exactly _why_ he did so, but he was sure it had to do with what he was going to say next...which seemed to flee his mind when he looked into said soldier's eyes.

How one young man's eyes could be so blue and...sparkly? Booth really had no idea, but it must've had something to do with the moonlight...right?

Booth disconnected his eyes from Temperance's and let go of her arm, feeling a slight twinge of disappointment, but shakes it off at once and clears his throat. "Um...where are you going, Bones?" he asked, grinning slightly. "I believe I owe you a sparring session."

Temperance stared blankly at him. "What?" she asked, obviously very confused. "I thought you told me to go home."

Booth shrugged. "Well, that was before you did what nobody else could do and proved that you really _do _have what it takes to make it in war. Congrats, Bones. I'll see you on the field at sunrise. Don't be late."

With that thought, he walked away, before turning back and addressing the rest of the troop. "Soldiers!" he called out, gaining most of their bleary-eyed attention. "Stand to attention." They all obeyed, standing tall, arms at their sides, waiting for their orders. "At sunrise, you will all rise as planned, but instead of taking to the field, you will be going on a ten mile run around the mountain which you will have approximately four hours to complete. The last person back from this run will be given an extra task to compensate for it. Am I clear?" Nods everywhere. "Good. Meanwhile, Mr. Brennan and I will be doing our scheduled four hours of hand to hand combat training. Those who arrive back early from their runs are welcome to watch."

"Yes, Captain." the group answered collectively. "Thank you, Captain."

Booth grinned, catching the tired tones to their voices, and dismissed them all, before looking back to Temperance and smiling at her still shocked expression. "I'll see you on the battlefield, Bones."

Temperance nodded and watched him duck into his tent before backing up towards the pole and allowing the weight of the medallions pull her down to the ground.

_What just happened?_

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	18. Chapter 17

**Update! Ugh, so tired right now...This chapter may be a bit short but rest assured that I will have no rehearsal for the next few days so I will have more than enough energy to keep posting as planned. Anyways, please enjoy!**

Chapter Seventeen

Temperance awoke to a burning sensation on the back of her legs and the smell of something burning. It took a couple of moments for her hazy mind to realize that it was not part of some sort of bad dream and that her tent was, in fact, filled with smoke. Also that the burn she felt on the back of her legs was slowly becoming more painful. Reflexively, her right leg kicked back and she felt it hit something, before the burning sensation left her legs and her tent began to empty of the awful smelling smoke.

Flipping over to sit up, Temperance pulled her knees to her chest, rubbing her burned legs, gently, feeling only a slight ache where the burning sensation was before. She looked down at the back of one of her calves and saw that it was only slightly pink. The other was the same.

Temperance's brow furrowed. How could that be possible? She was sure her tent must have been on fire only a few seconds ago! Otherwise, where had all that smoke come from?

Temperance gasped and narrowed her eyes at the little red blob of scales laying in a heap on the other end of the tent. "Parker!" she exclaimed, and Parker stuck up his head, sheepishly.

"Morning there, Bones!" he said, cheerfully. "Nice day, isn't it?" She shot him a nasty glare and he flinched. "Hey, in my defense, I tried every other way to wake you up, I even slapped your face a little bit," he dodged a shoe, "but you are one _lazy_ girl! I couldn't think of any other way to get you up and you're nearly twenty minutes late for that sparring thing with that Captain you like so much!"

Temperance scowled at him as she jumped up and began to get dressed. "I do _not_ like him! I mean, I do...but not like that! He's my Captain, for goodness sakes! Besides, he thinks I'm a man!" she emphasized this by tightening the binding on her chest and tying her shirt closed so that she looked as manly as ever. Then she tied up her short hair and jumped into her pants and shoes.

"How do I look?" she asked Parker and Zack, who'd just woken up.

"Meh." Parker said, laying back down. Zack gave her a thumbs up and she patted his head with her finger before picking him up and placing him in her shirt pocket.

"I'll need all the luck I can get today." she remarked as she made her way out to the field, grabbing her sword as she went.

As she walked up the first thing her eyes seemed to land on was the, once again shirtless, chest of her Captain as he did stretches and exercises in order to limber up and keep from cramping. The next thing she noticed was his behind, which she found difficult to look away from.

But, after that, she noticed that he had not set up any weapons for himself to use, meaning that she would be expected to fight him off without the use of her own weapons and would have to learn how to fight him with just her bare hands. It also meant that his hands could come in contact with areas that she'd rather he not even know about, not because it would be embarrassing, but because it could very well give her away.

This fear was so great that Temperance almost turned around at once and ran back to her tent to fake sick, but just as she was about to sneak off Booth turned and smiled at her, paralyzing her like some sort of venom and making her smile back, foolishly.

"Hey there, Bones." he greeted, cheerfully. "You ready to train."

Temperance nodded. "Mmhmm!" she mumbled, her voice getting high and girly. She cleared her throat. "I mean, um...sure." she said, in a much deeper voice. "Let's do this?"

Booth smiled and turned back to do one more stretch, as Temperance watched, sending up a prayer to her ancestors that she would live long enough to see the battlefield.

Four hours and many bruises later, Temperance and Booth were locked, hand-in-hand, against each other, in a game of mercy that had been going on for nearly five minutes, neither one willing to back down as each were cheered on by the soldiers who'd returned. They'd stopped training some time ago and had come to full-fledged battles and were now evenly matched at a a score of 2-2, with only one more battle to go.

Both were sweating profusely and Temperance was feeling the burning ache in her muscles that signaled that she might as well give up since they were about to give up on her, anyway, but she refused to give in, attempting to throw him off balance by stepping to the side, but all he did was follow and cause them to turn in a circle.

"Nice try, Bones." He grunted. "But you might as well give up now. You're not gonna beat me."

Temperance narrowed her eyes at him and doubled her efforts, feeling her muscles scream out in pain, but ignoring it. "Not gonna happen." she huffed.

Booth laughed and pressed harder, causing Temperance to reciprocate appropriately, but then something caught her eyes and she gasped, practically using all her strength to toss Booth down to the ground before taking off down the field to where Hodgins and Gordon-Gordon were walking with a limping Vincent between them. "Vincent!" she called. "Vincent! Are you alright, man?" she added the man so as not to sound too motherly and more like a manly, caring friend.

Vincent nodded, but it looked like just the simple motion caused him pain. "Yes, yes," he assured his friend, "I'm fine. Never felt better actually. Just a little, eh...accident while jogging. I'll be right as rain by tomorrow, though."

Temperance furrowed her brow at him and was about to say something when Booth's voice from behind her caused her to turn around. "Hey, I want a rematch! I wasn't ready for..." he paused, once he saw her worried face and Vincent's pained expression. "What happened to you?" he asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"He was-" Hodgins started to explain.

"Nothing, Captain." Vincent interrupted. "Just a slight fall. A twisted ankle, bruised knee. No big deal."

Temperance frowned at him, clearly sympathetic, while Booth narrowed his eyes, "You're lying." he said, gruffly. "Somebody did this to you. Who was it?"

Temperance's eyes widened at the accusation, but when she saw Vincent pale, she knew he was correct. "Vincent?" she asked. "Who did this to you?"

Vincent avoided her eye, blushing slightly. "I can't tell you." he said. "Besides, it was an accident."

"Vincent..." Temperance said, "who did this to you?" Silence. "Was it Sully?" Cough. "Hacker?" Wince. "It was both, wasn't it?" Vincent didn't speak, but the way he turned his head away in shame was a clear indicator that she was correct.

Temperance nodded and turned to Booth, giving him a look that obviously challenged him to do something about it. Booth nodded and turned to Vincent. "Mr. Nigel-Murray, go lie down in your tent for a while. I'll have Clark bring you lunch. Can you two help him there?" Hodgins and Gordon-Gordon nodded, helping the still limping Vincent into their tent. Booth then turned to Temperance. "Bones, you follow me. I think we should have a small talk with Mr.s Sullivan and Hacker, don't you?"

Temperance nodded, her eyes burning with poorly-hidden rage. "I concur." she said, marching along next to him as they approached the two asses, more than ready to unleash her rage on them.

**REVIEW if you want to see those two get their asses kicked by a hot Captain and a girl in drag!**


	19. Chapter 18

**Update! Sorry this is so late but I had less time over the last two days than I thought. I'll try to update as often as I can, though. Enjoy this one!**

Chapter Eighteen

Captain Booth was like a bull as he barreled through the crowd of men heading towards the cook's tent to get their lunch, some stopping to congratulate Temperance or watch to see where the furious Captain was heading, their eyes rolling as they saw him stop in front of Hacker and Sully, who were roaring in laughter at something.

Hacker held up a small, shiny dagger in front of Sully. "How much do you think this'll go for when we get out of here?" he asked, tossing the dagger a couple of inches before catching it.

Sully chuckled. "A couple thousand, at least." He said, examining it. "It looks like real silver, don't it?"

Hacker nodded. "Definitely."

Booth and Temperance stood behind them, listening to their conversation as they talked about where they could sell Vincent's father's dagger and how much it could make them after the war, their tempers wearing down until they were both red-faced.

Booth cleared his throat, trying to stay calm as both men turned to look at him and instantly moved to hide the knife, both standing to attention. "Sir." they chorused, their expressions grim, contradicting what they were before.

Booth narrowed his eyes at them. "You two seem pretty cheerful after the four hour run. Did you have a nice time?" he asked this sarcastically, but that didn't stop either man from nodding their head.

"Yes, Captain!" they affirmed, their hands held behind their backs.

"Good," Booth responded, walking around them, "good. I'm glad. You know, because a few of the runners didn't have such a good time out there, today. Did they, Bones?"

"No, Captain." Temperance agreed, glaring at the two men. "They didn't."

"Can you think of any one man, specifically, Bones? One man, possibly two, that _didn't_ enjoy this refreshing run?" Booth asked, his brown eyes glinting slightly with barely-suppressed rage.

"Well, there was Finn, who lost his footing and stumbled a bit a few times, but he really didn't get as injured as Vincent. Poor guy _tripped_ and twisted his ankle, bruised his knee, and got pretty beat up. It caused him to fall to the back of the run. Thankfully his friends stayed back to help him. But, you know, now that I think about it...he seems to be missing something."

"Missing something? Really? That's odd..." Booth said, feigning confusion. Hacker clenched his jaw and Sully lowered his head slightly. Booth noticed this. "What's he missing, Bones?"

"That dagger his father left him. You know the one, don't you, Captain?" Temperance's glare at the men intensified pointedly. "You guys know the one, right? The one you tried to take from him the other day."

They both nodded curtly. "Yeah, we know." Hacker responded, growling slightly.

Booth caught sight of the sword in Sully's back pocket and snatched it. "Hey, Bones, catch!" he said, tossing it to her. Temperance caught it easily and held it up, watching it glint in the sun. "Does that look familiar?" Booth asked and she nodded.

"Very familiar." Temperance said, eying the dagger. "Actually, I think this may just be the very same dagger that Vincent lost. Isn't that interesting, Captain?"

Booth nodded. "_Very _interesting. Say, fellas, where'd you find Vincent's dagger?"

Hacker shrugged. "Dunno." he mumbled. Sully stayed silent.

"Well, did you pick it up off the ground, or...did you _take_ it from him?" Temperance asked, accusingly.

Neither answered. They just glared at her.

"Answer him." Booth growled in their ears. "Now."

"We found it on the ground where he fell." Sully said, obviously lying.

"We were gonna give it back." Hacker added, unconvincingly.

"Yeah that's _real_ obvious, especially since you were just talking about selling it not two minutes ago. Right, Bones?"

"Yes, Captain." Temperance answered, her glare still trained on Hacker, who was glaring back. "We know Vincent didn't fall." she said, her voice shaking slightly. "We know you tripped him. Don't we, Captain?"

Booth nodded. "Yeah, then you took his dagger from him, kicked him a couple of times, made it look like he fell and hurt himself, then you left him there, lying on the ground in pain. Didn't you?"

"No, sir." Hacker lied. Booth's glare shot to him, and without a second thought he drew back his fist and hit him squarely in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. Sully jumped at the move, his eyes flying from Hacker to Booth and back.

Booth looked up at Sully, his eyes challenging. "You wanna tell me the truth, soldier?" he ground out.

Sully nodded. "Yes, sir. W-we, well, Hacker knocked him down. I-I grabbed th-the dagger. I-I didn't kick him, b-but I-I didn't stop it, either. I-I'm sorry, sir."

Booth's glare softened, but only slightly as he stepped up to stare Sully in the eye, which was hard since Sully was shorter than him. "You sure that's how it happened?" he asked, looking Sully straight on in the eye.

Sully nodded. "Yes, sir. I'm sure. And I'm very sorry."

"Good." Booth said. "Now you can tell that to Vincent. _Both _of you." He eyed Hacker. "And unless he accepts your apology, neither one of you is allowed to eat, unless you catch the food yourselves."

Temperance laughed. She might have been bad at hunting and fishing, but Hacker and Sully were _horrible_. They better hope Vincent accepted. Temperance wouldn't blame him if he didn't. They were jerks. That might never change.

"You also have to hand return the dagger, and once you give it back, I have a really special group of tasks I'd like you to complete. But first..." he turned to Temperance. "Bones, why don't you have a shot?"

"What?" Temperance asked, quizzically.

Booth chuckled. "Well, I got a shot at Hacker, a pretty good one, apparently." Hacker was still trying to fix his jaw and was moaning pretty loud. "Now it's your turn to give Sully a nice shiner."

"Oh, that's okay, sir. I don't think-"

"It's not optional, Bones." Booth said, evenly. "Now, come on. Give it all you got. I'll hold him."

Temperance sighed and looked at Sully, who was staring, stone-faced, back at her, his eyes glinting slightly, almost as if they were daring her to make a move. She glared at him and drew back her fist, taking a deep breath as she let it fly, right into his left eye.

Sully's head turned with the impact of her fist, and he grunted slightly, but he took it. Temperance shook her fist, which was smarting from the impact of his face, but suddenly she felt very calm. It was as if the simple punch were enough to relieve her stress from the past few days, more than the last four hours of sparring with Booth had.

She looked up at her Captain and caught him grinning at her, trying not to laugh. "Good shot, Bones!" he said, bumping her fist. "Now, go and help Hacker stand up. We need to get these two over to your tent so they can apologize, return to dagger, and get started on their tasks. "You guys better hope Vincent accepts your apology, cause you're gonna need the energy later, and you guys can't hunt for shit!"

Temperance chuckled, earning a glare from Hacker as she helped him to his feet. She just ignored him and pushed him forward, spinning the dagger in her hand and shaking her hand, trying to stop the pain.

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	20. Chapter 19

**SOOOO TIRED! Today has been wild! So much has happened today, I can't even tell y'all. But, thankfully I'm still awake and not passed out like I thought I'd be (from exhaustion, of course). Anyways, please enjoy this slightly mushy chapter,**

Chapter Nineteen

"I can't believe he forgave him." Temperance huffed as she sat across from Booth, as he wrapped and iced her hand, which had grown an ugly purple bruise that spread from her knuckles down to the middle of the back of her hand.

He shrugged, pressing the cold water on her hand, making her wince slightly. "Sorry." He said, applying less pressure. "Better?" She nodded. "Anyway, that's just how Vincent is, right? He's a very kind-hearted person."

"He's very foolish, is what he is." Temperance pouted. "I would have knocked them both out if I were him. I would never have forgiven them if they took something of my father's from me. I would've let them starve."

Booth chuckled. "So would I, but neither one of us is Vincent, are we?"

Temperance rolled her eyes. "I suppose not, but I still think he shouldn't have forgiven them. Not that quickly, at least. I would've let them go hungry for a few days and perspire it."

"Per-what? I think you mean 'sweat it' Bones. And, again, I completely agree. But Vincent is different. He's a nice guy. He's not like us. And he's definitely not as cruel as Hacker and Sullivan."

"You think what I'm saying is cruel?" Temperance asked, worriedly, looking him straight in the eye and causing Booth's chest to tighten.

"N-no. O-of course not! I think what you're saying is pretty...uh, reasonable. But, well, Vincent, being such a nice, naïve guy and all, might not see it that way. You know? And I'm pretty sure Hacker and Sully would probably agree with you, only they'd take it to the next level."

"What do you mean by that?" Temperance's already sparkly blue eyes took on a quizzical look that made Booth's already confused heart to give little leap.

What was going on with him?

"Uh...well, they'd probably beat the crap out of whoever dared do something like that to them, and they'd probably never forgive them, not if they knew the terms. They probably wouldn't even if they _didn't_ know the terms, just to be spiteful."

Temperance nodded and looked away, giving Booth's confused heart some relief. "I concur. They would do that." she said, angrily, standing up suddenly. "Thanks for wrapping my hand." she said, not meeting his eyes. "I'm just gonna go back to my tent to have something for lunch. I'll...I'll see you later, Captain." She began walking away, without looking back at him, but his hand on her arm shocked her and caused her to stop midstep, almost tripping over herself.

"Uh, Bones..." Booth started, his throat a little dry. He cleared his throat. When she looked back at him with those brilliant blue eyes, he was almost speechless. "Um...what's your sister like?" he asked, suddenly.

Temperance furrowed her brow. "My...sister?" she asked, confused.

Booth nodded. "Yeah. You know...Temperance? That's her name, right?"

Temperance's eyes widened. He remembered her name? "Uh...yeah. That's her name. Um...she's...smart, I guess. That's what my..._our_ mother says, at least. And she's pretty, I think. She looks sort of like me."

"Like you?" For some reason, unbeknownst to Temperance, Booth's voice sounded breathy.

Temperance nodded. "Yeah. You know, reddish hair, blue eyes, same shaped face. She's also kind of...nontraditional, too."

"Nontraditional?" Booth chuckled. "How so?"

Temperance shrugged, trying to find the right words to describe herself. "She's a fighter, like me."

"A fighter?" Booth asked, chuckling still. "What do you mean by that?"

Temperance shrugged. "Like she doesn't take order too well. She'd rather fight than cook and clean. You know, not the traditional girly girl. But she's still a pretty hard worker. She helps out on the farm more than I do." Temperance laughed nervously, hoping that sounded convincing.

"I like that." Booth said. "You don't meet many girls that'd rather fight than cook. Your sister sounds pretty impressive, if you don't mind my saying."

"Of course not, Captain." Temperance responded, feeling her heartbeat pick up.

They shared eye contact for a few moments before Temperance broke it and cleared her throat. "Uh...Captain?"

"Yeah, Bones?"

"Can you let go of my arm now? I'm kind of hungry and I'd like to get back to my tent."

"Oh," Booth said, blushing as he let go of Temperance's arm, as if he'd been burned. "right. Sorry, Bones."

Temperance chuckled. "No harm done. See you later, Captain."

"Bye, Bones." Booth said, softly, watching his soldier walk away, confusion eating away at his heart and brain.

Little did he know that Temperance was feeling the exact same way.

**Told ya it was a bit mushy. Anyway, please REVIEW!**


	21. Chapter 20

**HELLLOOOO! I'M BACK! Sorry it took so long to update but my Bingo addiction (Facebook) has been so wild and out of control. By the time I stop playing, it's too late to start a new chapter and still get enough sleep to wake up for school in the morning. ANYways, here's your LONG OVERDUE chapter. Enjoy!**

Chapter Twenty

At approximately two in the morning, Temperance sat up in her tent and looked around. They were gone. The men that were chasing her were gone. Where had they gone?

It took a few moments for Temperance's heart rate to slow as she realized that the men she thought were chasing her with the swords were just part of a dream, and she was really just sitting up in her tent, surrounded by three other soldiers. Temperance breathed a sigh of relief, her nose crinkling when she caught wind of something that smelled faintly like a mix between spoiled milk and burnt grass.

Temperance sniffed the air, trying to follow the scent, becoming none too happy when she realized that the smell was coming from her. She hadn't bathed in days. How could she? With all the men around and the fact that she was _not_ one of them so apparent when she didn't have clothes to cover herself or the two 'abnormalities' on her chest. Or the fact that there was nothing between her legs.

Temperance poked her head through the opening in the tent, her gaze flitting over each and every corner of the camp, looking for any sign of life. When she saw none, she stuck her head back in to retrieve her things.

Parker, who'd been snoozing inside her bag, next to Zack, awoke with a start when his position was changed as Temperance pulled out a fresh set of clothing and a towel to dry herself with. "Wha-?" he asked, groggily. "Who's there? What're you doing?" he asked.

"I smell like a wet dog." Temperance answered, grabbing her things and crawling towards the tent's opening. "I'm going to take a bath."

"Oh no you don't!" Parker said, running after her as Parker followed. "What if someone wakes up and sees your...you know!"

"You mean my breasts?" Temperance asked, amused. "I thought of that already. I'll just stay under the water and behind that big tree. Nobody'll see me. And if they do, I'll just keep the water above my shoulders. I really need this bath, Parker." she walked away from him, towards the small lake next to the camp, as he followed, shaking his head.

When Temperance reached the water, she began to strip out of her dirty clothes, sighing at the relief of no longer having to wear the sweat-soaked clothing that smelled like manure. Once she was completely naked, save for the single towel wrapped around her body, she dipped her toe into the water, testing its temperature. Finding it to her liking, she gently removed the towel and tossed it over her shoulder, stepping further into the water, letting its coolness surround her.

"Aah..." she let out a soft sigh of pleasure. "That's much better. Parker, can you throw me the hair wash?"

Parker, whose ears now covered his eyes out of respect for Temperance, nodded and began to feel around for the bottle of hair wash that she'd brought with her, even though men didn't use such items for their hair. He grabbed several things, including Temperance's underwear (which he apologized for touching), before finally finding the bottle of wash and throwing it to her.

The bottle landed a couple of feet in front of Temperance and she reached out to grab it...

Just as she noticed a dark figure walking towards the lake. Temperance gasped and grabbed the bottle, before moving behind the big tree. Parker just stood there, with his ears covering his eyes. "Parker!" Temperance hissed. "Somebody is coming! Hide!"

Parker's ears shot up and he turned around, his eyes widening at the tall figure coming nearer. Without a second thought he jumped into the water, surfacing somewhere near Temperance and she grabbed him, pulling him out of plain sight, as she watched, with wide eyes, as the figure came into focus.

Seeley Booth stood there, his eyes troubled as he looked out over the water. Temperance could see that he wasn't wearing a shirt, which made her heart beat almost wildly out of her chest. But he was wearing pants and shoes, so she knew he wasn't there to bathe like her.

But, then, why _was _he there?

Booth sat down on the small slope of a hill that led into the water, looking out over the water at the moon. He was silent and still for a long time before he finally spoke.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" he asked aloud, his voice rough and sounded utterly tortured. He didn't say anything else for a long time. He just sat there, looking like he was fighting some internal battle with himself, shaking his head every now and then like he just thought of something utterly ridiculous. He mumbled a few unintelligible things, threw a few stones at the water, one of them almost hit Temperance, and ran his hand through his hair more times than Temperance could count. Finally, he just stood up, almost angrily. "This is insane." he growled, before turning and walking away, heading straight back to his tent.

As soon as he was back in his tent, Temperance did a quick wash of her hair and had Parker fetch her clothes, just in case he came back. Quickly, she bound her chest and put on her clothes, before scurrying back to her tent to lie down.

She laid there for a long time, not even attempting to feign sleep, thinking about what she'd just witnessed.

What had the captain so distressed? Was it what happened today with Sully and Hacker? But, they'd solved it, beat the hell out of both of them, taught them a lesson they wouldn't forget. It took them hours to finish their task. Temperance smiled at that thought, but her smile vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

So, if it wasn't about today...

Then, what was the Captain so worried about?

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	22. Chapter 21

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Chapter Twenty-One

Three weeks went by without another incident like the one at the lake. Every other night, or every third night if she was too beat from training to pull herself out of the tent, Temperance would go out to the lake, strip off her clothes, and soak for a nice, long time in the cool water. Not once did Booth show up.

But things did change with training. He became harsher in his punishments if things weren't done exactly as he instructed. He even had Temperance run two miles for getting a single move wrong in her battle routine. After that, she was more careful not to cross him, but it seemed everything she did ticked him off. Though he couldn't punish her for doing something wrong when her moves and routines were perfect, but when she did mess up, even just slightly, he seemed to punish her even more harshly than before. At first, it was making her run an extra two miles, but then his punishments became harsher. He began giving her extra, more mundane tasks that left her almost too exhausted to drag herself to the lake some nights. But she still made the trip as often as possible, propping her head on a rock so she wouldn't accidentally drown if she nodded off.

By the third week of this torture, she began to get fed up.

Why wasn't he treating the other men this way? Even Sully and Hacker got off easier than she did and they were constantly playing pranks on the other soldiers and harassing them. But yet their mistakes were being ignored while it seemed Booth was constantly watching her, catching every single mistake she made.

"Come on, Bones!" Booth boomed at her one day. "Step up your game, already!"

Temperance glared at him, before looking at the arrow she'd just shot into a tree about a hundred yards away. It was slightly off the center of the target, but it was still much better than some of the other men's arrows. Vincent's barely got on the outer ring of the target!

Finally, it seemed like something inside Temperance snapped. "What is _wrong_ with you!" she blurted, without thinking. "Did I do something to upset you, Captain?" she asked, making it sound more like a demand that he answer her question.

Booth narrowed his eyes at her. "Why would you think that, Soldier?" He asked, through gritted teeth, obviously trying to remind her who was the higher authority here.

Temperance didn't back down, though. "Oh, I don't know!" she hissed at him. "Do you think it could have been the two extra miles I've been running every single day for the last three weeks? Or maybe the fact that I've been washing every single fork, spoon, and bowl for the last three _days_? Or the fact that, despite getting an almost perfect bull's eye, you still yell at me to do better, when I did better than anybody else here, thus far? Tell me, which one of these is the best reason for why I may think what I do?"

Booth was silent for a long time, just looking at her with narrowed eyes, but not exactly a glare, before opening his mouth again. "I...I'm sorry." he choked out, before clearing his throat. "You're right. I have been acting like a...like a jerk. I just know you can do better than you have been, Bones. I just want you to work to your potential. But, if it bothers you so much then I'll just leave you alone."

Temperance frowned. "Captain..."

"It's fine, Bones." Booth said, holding up his hand and grinning, that same grin that stole her breath away and made her heart pound against her chest every time she saw it. They locked eyes for what seemed like the first time in weeks and Temperance could swear her heart stopped beating for at least ten seconds, until he broke eye contact again, avoiding her eyes like the plague as he said, "Twenty-five laps around the camp, then you're all done. I'm going back to my tent. I've...I've got a headache." He turned and left so fast, Temperance was dazed.

_What the hell is going on?_ She thought to herself as she was pushed towards the outfields of the camp. _What did I just do?_

XxxXxXxXx

Later that evening, Temperance lay in the cool shade of her tent, her hands resting on her stomach and her knees bent to face the ceiling. Hodgins, Vincent, and Gordon-Gordon were all out at the lake, fishing for their dinner.

Temperance wasn't really hungry. Not that she really ate much meat anyway. She kept mostly to nuts and berries, anything that could be grown. Things that had to be killed to be ingested didn't have all that much appeal to her.

She was just replaying the events of the morning in her mind, what happened with Captain Booth acting so strangely, when suddenly a horn was blaring outside her tent, causing Temperance to jump about three feet in the air, before she sat up, feeling dizzy as the blood rushed to her head.

Ignoring the dizziness, she stood up and raced out of the tent, heading straight towards the center of camp, where Clark stood there, red-faced, as he blew into a long, golden horn in his hand, next to Booth, who was looking down at a letter in his hand, crumpling it slightly in his fist, his face sullen and grim.

"Captain?" Temperance asked, coming up to him. "What's wrong?" she asked, her voice raising an octave, unconsciously.

Booth looked up at her, all the familiar warmth she usually saw in his eyes, even when he was angry, now gone. "My father's troop," he said, gravely, "just got attacked. We have to start moving the troops forward."

Temperance nodded in understanding. "When do we leave?" she asked.

"Dawn." Booth ground out, before turning on his heel and walking back to his tent.

Temperance watched him leave until he disappeared into his tent, before turning to head back to her own tent, gasping as she saw the few petrified dozen faces of her comrades, terrified of what was to come.

The fact that all those men, who were supposed to be brave and fearless, could look so scared at a time like this, frightened Temperance more than she would ever admit.

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	23. Chapter 22

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Chapter Twenty-two

Temperance barely slept at all that night, the worry of the upcoming battle paralyzing her heart and causing her brain to run through all the possible outcomes it could bring.

She knew she was being foolish, though. After all, she didn't really know if they were going straight into battle, or if they were just going to meet up with the Captain's father, General Booth's, troop and come up with a strategy to proceed.

But then, after they had come up with a new strategy, they would most definitely be heading on to battle. Temperance wasn't sure if she was quite ready for that.

Or if Booth was, for that matter. Lately, it seemed, he was very stressed out, almost on the verge of a mental breakdown, especially when training the soldiers. Especially when training Temperance, in particular.

Temperance furrowed her brow at this thought. Had she done something to upset the Captain? If so, then what? What could she have done that had upset him so much that he'd be so cruel and stressed? She searched her mind, trying to find the answer, but she could find none.

Temperance sighed and closed her eyes, willing the sleep to come. Sleep that wouldn't, not until the early hours of the morning, when it was too late.

xXxXxXxXx

Temperance was awoken, for the first time by one of her bunk mates, instead of the small, annoying, red lizard or the chirping blue cricket that usually drove her up a wall.

"Russ." Gordon-Gordon whispered in her ear. "Come on. Wake up now. We have to start marching soon."

Temperance opened her eyes, blinking groggily up at the large man. "Wha-?" she mumbled. "My name's not-" thankfully, she stopped herself before she finished that sentence. "Uh...nothing. I'll be out in a few seconds." she promised, sitting up in the tent, trying to adjust to the darkness that still surrounded her in the very early morning. By the faint light seeping through the tent, Temperance estimated it to be around six in the morning; the sun would rise at any moment and she was still not properly dressed.

Quickly, Temperance began to feel around for her bag, finding it almost at once and pulling out her armor. She strapped it on immediately, over the shirt and pants that she'd put on, slipped on her battle boots and tied her hair up to rest beneath her helmet. Then, she grabbed her bag and raced out of the tent, towards Wendell's stall, where he was currently eating an early breakfast of dried fruits and oat.

Temperance approached him and ran her fingers gently through his mane, trying to keep him calm as she strapped on her bag and a blanket to sit on as she rode. "Good boy." she cooed, as he stayed still the entire time. When she was done, she hopped on and kicked his sides, urging him to go forward.

Wendell did as instructed and walked over to where the rest of the men had gathered by the Captain's tent, some on horses, others on foot. Temperance, still exhausted from a sleepless night, lay her head down in Wendell's soft mane and closed her eyes, only for a moment, just until the Captain came out.

"Bones!" Temperance jerked awake, sitting straight on Wendell's back, squinting against the harsh sunlight.

When had the sun finally risen? Temperance blinked her eyes open and looked down into the beautiful, chocolatey brown ones of her superior. "Ye...Yessir?" she mumbled, her crystal blue eyes cloudy with sleep.

Booth stood there, in front of her, his eyes fixed in an icy glare that softened slightly when their gazes locked. "Tired much?" He practically growled.

Temperance swallowed past a sudden lump that had formed in her throat. Why was he acting like this? Yes, she'd fallen asleep, but she'd only been out for a moment or two, right? Temperance looked up. The sun was still partially covered by the horizon. She must have been out for no more than ten minutes, but even still...

"Bones?" Booth barked. "I asked you a question. Now, _answer it_!"

Temperance narrowed her eyes at him, but bit her tongue to keep from talking back. "Yes, Captain." She said, just short of hissed. "I _am_ tired. I've been up half the night, worrying about my life, about the life of my fellow soldiers, partly about _your_ life, and the fate of this upcoming battle. Forgive me, but I thought that was your job, yet you seem very well-rested, so I guess my assumption was wrong. But, still, I am very sorry for falling asleep like that. I'm sorry for worrying for _your_ soldiers so much that I lost sleep over it. But I'm ready to fight now, so let's go. Let's not waste anymore time."

With that, she made Wendell turn and they began walking in the direction of the upcoming battle, Booth staring, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, after them. Clark came up next to him, looking outraged and was about to call after her, but Booth stopped them. "No." he said, "Let them go. We'll follow." He whistled for his own horse to come for him, a female named Camille, whit chestnut brown hair and a long, black mane. "Good girl." he cooed, before climbing atop and turning towards the others. "Let's go, men!" he ordered. "Follow Bones! Hurry now! We've got a long walk ahead of us."

Some of the men, without horses, groaned, and began marching off in the direction Temperance had taken off in, while those with horses raced off to catch up with her, all of them headed off to, what they would come to see, a trap.

**REVIEWS NEEDED! Guess whose birthday is coming up on Friday? ME! xD Lolz! Now, y'all don't gotta get me anything, but it would be nice if somebody sent a naked Booth to my house. *_* That would be FANTASTIC! But, you know, if you can't, I understand...a nice smutty story would be a nice gift though. XD **


	24. Chapter 23

**Update! Enjoy!  
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Chapter Thirty-three

Less than two hours of traveling later, the men were slowly becoming children, whining about hunger and aching feet and the heat of the sun beating down on them, while others kept stopping to ogle the local village-women who were out in the fields, picking crops for their husbands and smiling up at the handsome soldiers. Temperance, who caught Vincent ogling countless young women, quickly became disgusted with all men and had to stop several times to get them to keep walking, while Booth glanced at a few himself, a smile blooming up on his face every now and then, almost as if he were satisfied with something, but then his eyes would go to Temperance and he'd frown again, before turning away.

Temperance caught him do this at least three times before she realized that she was the thing he was frowning at and not something or somebody behind her and the realization made her heart drop.

Temperance couldn't pinpoint the exact reason why Booth's apparent anger at her upset her so much, but something about his distaste for her made her heart clench in her chest. And it confused the hell out of her!

Temperance shook her head of all thoughts having to do with Booth and tried to focus her attention on the road ahead.

"Hey, look at that one, eh?" Hodgins said, nudging her leg, and pointing to a young woman, who was standing with her feet ankle-deep in a shallow pond, her basket full of salmon. He grinned at her and winked, and she rolled her eyes and giggled. "Pretty cute, right?" He smiled up at Temperance, who chuckled and shook her head.

"Not my type." she replied.

"What _is_ your type, man? I haven't seen you spare a glance at these girls! I mean, _one_ of them has to be your type, right?"

Temperance shrugged. "I can't tell."

"Why not? Are you into blondes, brunettes, redheads? Girls with tan skin, light skin, dark skin? Blue eyes, brown eyes, green? Tall or short? Chubby or skinny? What are you into?"

Temperance shrugged. "Smart girls?" she said, shrugging.

Hodgins made a face. "_Why?_"

Temperance shrugged again. "I dunno...what kind of girls are you into?"

Hodgins smiled and rubbed his chin, thinking. "I dunno...pretty girls, I guess. Girls with beautiful, shiny hair, and brown eyes, too! I like brown eyes on girls. _Tall_ girls, too."

"Doesn't it matter to you how they act or if they have personality?"

"Not much. I mean...I like girls that are artsy, you know, like they can paint and stuff, but they have to appreciate my muscles." He flexed, grinning cheekily at Temperance, who rolled her eyes.

She turned to Gordon-Gordon, who was walking on her other side. "What about you?" she asked. "What do you look for in a woman?"

Gordon-Gordon smiled. "A girl who can cook wonderful food for me, morning, noon, and night. It doesn't matter what she looks like, as long as she can cook."

Temperance chuckled. "You really like food, don't you?"

Gordon-Gordon nodded. "Very much, yes. What about you, Vincent?" he asked his small friend, who was walking a little ways ahead of them. "What ind of woman do you want to marry?"

Vincent smiled. "A beautiful one, who intelligent and thinks I'm a God."

Temperance snorted. "Seriously?" Vincent nodded, smiling. "A God?" Another nod. "Okay..." She turned back to Gordon-Gordon. "So you're looking for a woman who can cook well," he smiled and she turned to Hodgins, "you're looking for a woman who appreciates your muscles and art," he grinned and flexed, while she rolled her eyes and turned to Vincent, "and you're looking for a woman that thinks you're a _God_?" He nodded and grinned, confidently, strutting slightly as he walked. Temperance sighed. "Is nobody interested in a woman who speaks her mind?"

The men all looked at each other and exchanged looks with each other. "Nah!" they all said in unison.

Temperance sighed again, her eyes resting on Booth, who was leading the pack. "Great." she mumbled to herself.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

As the hours rolled on and on, the men became more and more restless, openly complaining to the Captain about their aching feet and sore backs.

Booth just ignored them and kept on going, knowing that they would follow, no matter how sore they were.

By the time they reached the mountainous area where the village was located, it had started to get considerably colder and they began to see the first signs of snow begin to fall. This was just another thing for the men to complain about and for Booth to turn a deaf ear to.

Temperance, herself, was beginning to get tired of the travels herself and had even thrown a blanket on herself to stop the chills and traveled to the front of the troop to ride next to Booth and maybe see if she could spot the small village where the General was waiting with his own troop.

Also, she wanted to get to the root of the problem between her and Booth, and see what his problem with her was.

"Captain?" she greeted gently as Wendell came up to trot next to Booth's horse, Camille.

Booth glanced at her, sighed then looked back to the land before them. "Yes, soldier?" he asked, coldly, almost wearily.

"What's your problem?" she asked, before wincing at the way her question came out. "With me, I mean..." she clarified. "I mean, it seems as if I did something to offend you, somehow."

"How do you figure?" Booth asked, his voice still cold as steel.

"Well, you talking to me like that could have given me a clue." Temperance replied, matching his icy tone. "Also the fact that you've been treating me more harshly, in terms of punishment, and you act like you can't stand me most of the time. So I just have to ask, did I...did I _do_ something that might have upset or angered you, because if I did-"

"You didn't." Booth interrupted.

"What?" Temperance asked, eying him curiously. "Then, why-?"

Booth shrugged. "I...it's hard to explain," he said, uneasily, "but since you joined my troop, I've been-"

"Captain!" Clark called from up ahead. Booth looked at him, with wide eyes. "Captain!" Clark repeated. "It's a trap!"

Booth and Temperance's eyes widened as a flurry of arrows came flying at them from behind a mound of snow three hundred yards away.

They were under attack.

**REVIEWS! Tomorrow's my bday and reviews would make the PERFECT gift. Also a nice smutty story of BOOTH and BRENNAN! Also, naked Booth at my door wouldn't be so bad, but I'll take what I can get...REVIEW!**


	25. Chapter 24

**So so so so so so so so so so (x100000000000000000000) sorry that I haven't written in two weeks, but I've been sososososososososo busy lately. But, today, a special review about it being one of my reader's birthday got me to put aside my work for a moment and focus on my writing. ( It is, after all, what got me into my first-choice school [SUNY Purchase!]) Anyways, please enjoy this!**

Chapter Twenty-Four

Temperance what exactly sure what she was expecting to happen when they arrived at the meeting place Booth's father had written him, but she had a small list made in the back of her mind, and a surprise attack was only the third thing on the list- right behind being greeted with open arms and, hopefully, hot food, by General Booth's troop. The second being finding them all frozen to death in this icy tundra.

So, being only third on the list, the surprise attack from their enemies came as...well, as a surprise.

But, always prepared, Temperance began to immediately dodge the flying arrows, pulling Wendell's reigns and leading him behind a large boulder, where she allowed him to lie down and take cover for himself. She, herself, jumped off him and reached behind her for her bow, while the other soldiers, who'd followed her example and found cover, did the same, some even lighting cannons to send their way, while Booth barked out instructions.

"Make sure you get a good aim at them! Stay covered so they can't hit you! Bones!" He barked. Temperance turned to him with an annoyed glare, and lifted her eyebrows at him. He took a deep breath and gave her a stony look. "Aim for their hearts." He said, simply, before turning away.

Temperance sighed and turned back in the direction of her enemies, pulling the arrow back as far as it would go and shooting it towards the heart of a man on a horse coming their way, as others followed her example and began picking them off, one by one.

Temperance shot about a dozen more arrows before she finally ran out of ammo. Looking around at the others, she realized that they were running out, as well, and, though they picked off at least two dozen enemies, they were still outnumbered.

This worried Temperance immensely. Not only because they were so outnumbered -she believed that if these men had been at all normal, average-sized men, then each one of her fellow soldiers could take them two or three at a time (even Vincent).

But these men were in no way average-sized. They were GIANTS! Each and every one of them were bulging with muscles all over their bodies, their clothes taught over each and every odd bump and bulge, so they looked like they were merely painted on, instead of worn. And they had more than enough ammo and weaponry to easily kill each and every soldier with a simple flick of the wrist. There was no way they could be defeated, unless...

Temperance glanced over at Vincent, who was struggling with a cannon, trying to light it, and then at one of the large, snow-covered mountains behind the army of men who were running towards them, and it was light something sparked to life in her brain, causing the rest of her body to spring into action.

Temperance stood at once and, dodging flying arrows, ran to where Vincent was struggling with the cannon and matches, grabbed them, and began running towards the enemies, while her friends, and Booth, yelled after her.

"Bones! Bones, what the hell are you doing! Come back here right now!" Booth shouted after her

Temperance ignored her and the many other warnings from her fellow soldiers as she kept running towards the other army men, stopping right in the middle and dropping to her knees in the snow, aiming the cannon towards them, as she fumbled with the matches.

Suddenly, a sensation on her back caused her to to jump, and then Parker appeared in front of her, looking at her as if she were daft.

"What _on Earth,_ are you _doing_? You're gonna get yourself killed!" He yelled.

Temperance kept fumbling with a match, trying to get it to light. "I have an idea!" she told him, cursing as she dropped the match and looked up, realizing that they were getting closer, their leader, a masked man they called 'Gravedigger' racing at the front of the pack, wielding a sword. She gasped in obvious fright and looked around for the matches, but could not locate them in the piles of snow that surrounded her.

Then, in a moment of panic and utter brilliance, she grabbed Parker, who immediately protested. "Hey! Wait! What are you-"

He couldn't even finish his sentence as Temperance pulled his tail, releasing a fiery breath on the fuse. When she let go of him, he landed on the cannon, smiling because he knew _exactly _what her plan was.

Or, at least, he _thought_ he knew what her plan was.

Temperance grabbed the cannon and aimed it towards where she wanted to go, which Parker thought was the head of the Gravedigger, but was really the mountain behind him.

As the Gravedigger got closer and closer, the fuse became shorter and shorter, but not quickly enough, because soon the Gravedigger was only a couple of feet away and Temperance was urging the fuse to hurry up.

In the split second that it took the fuse to finally reach the cannon, and shoot towards the mountain, with Parker screaming in outrage, ("You missed! How could you miss? HE WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!") the Gravedigger raised his sword and brought it down across Temperance's abdomen, causing blood to rush and pain to electrocute her entire body.

He laughed and her and raised the sword, taunting her in a deep, husky voice. "Any last words?"

Temperance glanced behind him and smiled slyly. "Avalanche." She practically whispered, staring confidently into the Gravedigger's eyes.

The Gravedigger's eyes widened. "Wha-?" He turned around and his back stiffened as he watched what must have been _tons _of snow rush down a mountain.

Straight for them.

**Another cliffhanger! xD Please REVIEW!**

**Also, happy birthday to fan, JenE! I hope this was an adequate bday gift!**


	26. Chapter 25

**Two chapters in two days! It must be a freakin' miracle, right? XD Enjoy!**

Chapter Twenty-five

For a short moment, all the Gravedigger could do was watch in utter disbelief and shock at the river of snow cascading down the mountainside at a seemingly impossible speed. When he finally snapped out of it, his first response was to turn back to the dimwitted soldier that caused all this and finish him off...but Temperance was already racing in the opposite direction, back to her own troop, signaling them to run away.

"Go!" she shouted at them. "Go now! There's an avalanche!"

Booth stared at her for a moment, not sure what she was saying, but then one glance at the mountains behind her had him ordering his troops to drop everything and retreat. "Share horses!" he ordered. "No man left behind! Come on, now! Let's go!"

The men obeyed immediately, a few running towards Wendell, trying to mount him, but he began running towards Temperance before they even had him in their grasp. Temperance ran towards him and they met somewhere in the middle, her jumping right onto his back and ordering him to follow the rest of the troop in retreat, glancing back to see that the snow was moving in on them, and fast.

The Gravedigger and his men were being engulfed one by one in the blanket that was ascending upon them, and only the Gravedigger himself and a couple of his soldiers were left, and gaining on her, raising bows to shoot at her.

Temperance ducked both arrows and urged Wendell to go faster. Ever the over-achiever, Wendell pushed himself to go as fast as he possibly could and soon they were caught up with the rest of the troop, dodging more arrows that were coming from both sides now. Wendell galloped until he was running right next to Booth's horse, Camille, and Booth, who was shooting arrow after arrow at the Gravedigger.

"Booth!" Temperance called out. Booth glanced at her with an annoyed, questioning look. "The bridge up ahead, it'll collapse with the weight of all this snow, but there's a large hill just to the left of it. If we can just lead the troop there, we'll be high enough not to be affected by it."

"And if we don't?"

"We'll either suffocate in all the snow or fall to our deaths in the ravine. Your choice."

Booth nodded and signaled Camille to start turning to the left, not enough so that they'd be in danger of getting caught in the snow, but enough so that they were moving towards the large hill. The rest of the men followed without question, while the Gravedigger and his men fought to catch up with them while battling the river of snow at their heels. Literally.

After a couple of moments, Temperance finally spotted the bridge and the hill right next to it and began to race towards it, while the rest of the men followed after her, all of them piling on the very top with their horses, praying that her plan worked.

And it did.

As the snow rushed towards them (with no sign of the Gravedigger or his men), it barely even came close to them before rushing over the edge of the cliff just behind the tall hill. Temperance and Booth stood at the very top at that hill and just looked at each other in surprise for a few moments, before smiles broke out on both faces and they just began to laugh. For no apparent reason other than plain relief that they weren't killed.

The rest of their troop looked at them like they were crazy, which made them laugh harder, before their eyes suddenly locked at the laughing began to die down to soft chuckles as their throats constricted and their mouths dried, and their stomachs began to flutter, a not-unfamiliar feeling over the last few weeks.

And, for the first time in weeks, Temperance noticed that Booth was looking at her with deep respect and...something else that she couldn't quite identify, for she had never seen that look on anybody's face before. Temperance wondered what it was.

But her thoughts were interrupted, when the man in question said her name, softly and almost endearingly. "Bones...I..." whatever he said was cut short by the feeling of something pulling him from behind, effectively shutting off his air supply and pulling him back.

Temperance gasped and reached from his hand, pulling him back to her. "Booth!" she called out in surprise, tugging on his hand, as she tried to figure out what was going on.

Then she saw him; the Gravedigger. He was holding onto Booth's cape, attempting to pull him down with him as he fell, a look of utter hatred etched in his eyes, the only visible part of his face, as he struggled not to let go.

Temperance immediately realized that her holding onto Booth would only increase the pressure on his throat, but she couldn't bear to let him go. Quickly, she turned to where Vincent was sitting on a large gray horse and ordered him to throw his dagger to her. He did so with little resistance and she caught it with ease, immediately using it to slice Booth's cape, causing him to fall forward and the Gravedigger to fall into the snowy abyss below, a cry of outrage the last thing to leave his lips before he sunk into the cold, white water.

As Booth regained his breath and his head cleared, he looked up at his savior, smiling at her as his heart began to pound in his chest. "Bones..." he said, grinning. "You...you _saved _ me. How can I ever repay you?"

Temperance smiled back at him, beginning to feel wobbly for some unbeknownst reason, and suddenly fell to the ground in a heap as all the blood began to rush to her head and sound in her ears.

"Bones!" Booth exclaimed, kneeling at her side at once. "Bones, what's...?" His eyes went to the cut on her stomach and his heart nearly stopped. "Somebody get help!" he cried out, looking up at his soldiers. "He's hurt! Go get help! NOW!"

A few of the men immediately raced off in the direction of the village a few miles away, looking for a doctor of some kind, while Booth turned back to Temperance. "Don't worry, Bones." He soothed. "It's all right. Everything's gonna be just fine. Just hang in there, Bones. Bones. Just hang in there..."

His voice began to fade out as Temperance's whole world went black.

**I know Booth and Brennan's baby's name! And I won't tell you until I get at least NINE reviews this chapter!**


	27. Chapter 26

**I'm on a roll, huh? XD Thanks for the reviews! The name will be at the very bottom, so if you don't want to know, there will be alerts all the way, and if you do want to know then just skip the alerts and go on down there. Enjoy! (btw, Refelction [or 'Mi Reflejo' by Christina Aguilera] has just started playing as I wrote this. Isn't that funny?)**

Chapter Twenty-Six

Temperance woke many hours later to the warmth of blankets wrapped around her chilled body...and nothing acting as a border between her upper body and said blankets. Her eyes shot open as she shot up in her spot, feeling light-headed almost at once, making her eyes slam back shut as pain radiated over her midsection.

A soothing, unfamiliar voice and pair of hands calmed her and had her lie back down. "Lay back down, Sweetheart," the voice, a male one, coaxed. "That's it. Just relax." Temperance opened her eyes slowly and saw an elderly man with thinning white hair and kind brown eyes, smiling softly, and somewhat sadly at her.

"Who are you?" she asked, bluntly. "Where's Booth?"

The old man chuckled. "Well, in a way, Booth is right here in front of you." he chuckled again and Temperance regaled him with curious eyes. "My name is Hank Booth. I'm Seeley's grandfather. I served in the same troop as my son."

Temperance cocked her head. "But, you're elderly. You must be much older than him."

Hank chuckled again. "He wasn't kidding about you, eh? Very direct. About most things, anyway..."

Temperance furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

Hank laughed out loud. "Sweetheart, if you think you're fooling anybody right now with that high-pitched voice of yours and those-well, _those-_" He motioned towards her chest, and she looked down, as if she forgot she had breasts. "then I'm sorry to tell you that you're sorely mistaken."

Temperance was suddenly filled with fear. Hank was right. Not only had she exposed herself as a woman by being injured, she'd also lost all the trust of her fellow soldiers...and, most definitely, her life. "Do they know yet?" she asked, worriedly. "Does _he _know yet?"

Hank nodded gravely. "He's the one that carried you in to me. Wouldn't even stay with his ailing father on his death bed. He watched as I treated the wound, but when I removed your undershirt..." he trailed off and she nodded in understanding. Of course he would feel betrayed. _I _would feel betrayed if I were him. I had lied to his face, for _weeks_, about who I was, about my gender, and a man like him must feel lesser for having been beaten, or at least matched, in combat by a _woman_. It was unthinkable. Temperance thought, tears flooding her eyes.

Then she thought of the fact that she had beaten Sully and Hacker and many of the other men, had done things in training and combat that none of them had even thought of, and had saved each and every one of their lives with her quick thinking.

Maybe that in itself was enough to convince them to keep her alive. She doubted it, though. The law was the law and Booth did not seem like the type of man who would break it.

"Do you think it will be painless?" She asked in a weak, girly voice that she barely recognized as her own.

Hank sighed, his eyes losing their light, bright quality. He shrugged heavily. "I don't know, Sweetheart. I hope so. I wish you a quick, painless one, but more so, I wish you could die of old age, but that doesn't seem like much of an option, does it?"

"No," a voice from the opening of the tent said, "It doesn't."

Temperance's eyes flew to the opening and her heart clenched as she saw one very angry-looking Captain standing there, his eyes cold as steel. "Booth." she choked out. "I-"

"Don't." He said, quietly, more frighteningly than if he had yelled. "Pops, can we have some privacy, please."

Hank nodded and stood, handing Temperance a cup of some sort of tea. "Not sure it'll do you any good, now, but this should ease the pain in your stomach." she nodded and took the cup. Hank patted her hand and nodded to Booth as he left. "Be easy on her." he whispered as he left.

Booth glared at him as he left and then looked over at Temperance, who'd propped herself up and was slowly sipping the tea in the cup, nearly choking it down past the lump in her throat, avoiding his eyes.

"What is your name?" Booth asked evenly, causing Temperance's heart to jump at the sudden noise, after several moments of silence.

She swallowed a mouthful of tea before she spoke. "Temperance." she said, softly. "My name is Temperance Brennan."

Booth's eyes widened. "I thought..." he shook his head and the steely look was back. "_Why_ were you impersonating your brother, Russ?"

Temperance took a deep breath. "To save my father. He's not well and he would have been forced to fight. I had no other choice." She pleaded with him with her eyes. "Please, spare me." she begged.

Booth's eyes took on a look of pity, followed by countless emotions that Temperance could barely identify. She saw regret, betrayal, hurt, relief...why was he relieved. Did he _want _to kill her?

Temperance looked away. Of course he did. She had humiliated him in front of his entire troop. It would boost his status, indefinitely, if he were to kill her for her act of treason. "Just make it quick, okay?" she whispered, her voice tilted with slight anger.

Booth's eyebrows rose, but he knew what she was talking about. Reaching into his belt, pulling out a sword, her father's sword. He was going to kill her with her own father's sword!

And then, do what with it? Keep it? Destroy it? Send it back to her parents with her blood on it as a reminder of their only daughter's stupidity?

He _wouldn't..._

Booth regaled the sword, turned it in his hands for a long while, not looking at her. Only the sword. Testing its weight in his hands, then he took a few steps forward, so he was standing at the foot of her bed, contemplating her with icy eyes, before he raised the sword and Temperance flinched away, dropping the tea on the floor next to her and raising her arms to shield herself from his fatal blow. Then, suddenly, she felt the weight of the sword in her lap. Cautiously, she opened her eyes, finding her father's sword on the blanket in front of her.

When she looked back up, Booth was giving her a pained expression. "Why...?" she asked, confused by his actions.

Booth opened his mouth to say something, then closed it as if he'd changed his mind. "You saved my life back there." he said, softly. "You saved all our lives. We would be dead without your quick thinking. It seems only right that I save your life as well." He said this all without looking at her, only the wall of tent behind her.

Temperance's eyes softened at this explanation. "Booth, I-"

"Don't." he said, gruffly. "Just pack up your stuff...a-and leave. Now. Before I change my mind." He said and began to stomp away.

"Booth!" Temperance called after him.

"What!" Booth asked, turning to look at her, his eyes showing his obvious pain. "What more do you want from me?"

"I just...Thank you." she said, softly. "For everything."

Booth rolled his eyes and continued on his way out of the tent, saying nothing more to her.

And that, alone, made the pain in her chest more unbearable than ever.

**My own chapter almost made me cry...oh, and Mi Reflejo also just came back on. This is getting spooky. REVIEWS PLEASE!**

**NAME BELOW!**

**MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!**

**WARNING! SPOILER!**

**SPOILER ALERT!**

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**The name is...Christine Angela Booth xD So cute, right?**


	28. Chapter 27

**UPDATE! Sorry it took so long for me to update...AGAIN! But I've been working out how the rest of the story is going to go and I think I've finally got it. So, without further ado...**

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Temperance watched from about half a mile away as the troop packed up their tents and belongings, and put out every single fire before mounting their horses and heading out. Only a few stopped to look back at her. Only Gordon-Gordon waved at her, sadly, but was quickly interrupted by Jack, who clapped him on the back and shook his head. Gordon-Gordon frowned at her and shrugged, before following the rest of the soldiers off the campgrounds.

Temperance eyes sought Booth for one last look, but he was concealed by all the soldiers and made his way quickly down the hill, as far away from her as possible.

Temperance sighed, wiping the tears from her eyes and pulling on Wendell's reigns to signal that he should start moving. Zack, who'd taken up residence in her shirt pocket, popped his head out and looked up at her, sympathetically. He clicked twice and Temperance smiled down at her, patting the pocket and tucking him back inside.

As they rode off, Temperance had the decency of mind as to wonder where Parker had gone to. She hadn't seen him since he flew into the mountain with the rocket. She hoped he was okay.

As if on cue, a voice rang out from behind her. "And just where do you think _you're_ going?" Parker as from the snow below, before hopping onto Wendell's rear and shaking the snow from his chilled scales.

Temperance rolled her eyes but couldn't help the shadow of a smile that turned up her lips. "It's over, Parker." she said, sullen. "He found me out."

Parker's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" he asked. "How could he have...but he should have killed you...Why didn't he?"

Temperance shrugged. "He said it was because I saved his life and he owed me a favor. Now, we're even."

Parker snorted. "That's a complete lie! I've seen people kill their own parents, the people that they've gotten life _from_. There's no favors owed in the battlefield, Bones. Especially not treasonous liars like you...no offense."

"None taken." Temperance dead-panned. "And it is the truth. There's no other reason why he'd let me live other than a debt owed. Booth is an honorable man like that."

Parker snorted again. "Honorable! Right! You can't think of _one_ other reason the Captain might have wanted to keep you alive? Like, maybe, he's _in love_ with you or something!"

Temperance rolled her eyes. "Parker, that's preposterous! Booth is not in-" Suddenly her eyes widened and her mouth fell agape as she caught sight of movement near the side of the cliff the Gravedigger and his men went over less than twenty-four hours ago.

"What are you-?" Temperance clapped her hand over the dragon's mouth and pointed to the cliff where a hand had just appeared on the edge. Then another. And then the top of a helmet...the _Gravedigger's_ helmet!

Temperance gasped aloud at the sight of the Gravedigger and his men slowly climbing over the cliff, and falling into heaps on the snow-covered ground, breathing heavily from exertion.

"Oh my God." Temperance breathed. "I have to tell Booth!" She snapped Wendell's reigns and led him through a path hidden by trees, in the direction that Booth and his soldiers had traveled, urging him to go faster in order to catch up before they reached the Capitol and the King's Palace.

"Bones!" Parker yelled, holding onto Wendell's mane as they raced along. "What are you doing! We can't defeat those guys! They just survived a three-hundred foot drop into a ravine, after being knocked down by an avalanche! There's no way-"

"We have to!" Temperance yelled back. "Otherwise, everybody will die! I can't let that happen, knowing I could have done something to stop it."

Parker wanted to argue further; tell her that it was completely pointless; that everybody would die whether she did anything or not. But, he couldn't.

Looking at the determination reflected on her face, he couldn't do that to her. Couldn't tell her that it was hopeless, that _she _was hopeless. He couldn't crush her like that.

So, he just let her ride, in her race to the Capitol, and towards what, Parker was absolutely certain, would lead to her imminent death.

**REVIEW!**


	29. Chapter 28

**UPDATE!**

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The crowds roared, children laughed and cheered, running around their parents legs and waving up to the big brave men, not understanding exactly what they were thanking them _for_. They just knew that these were the good guys and they were to be cherished for it. So they waved and cheered, and little girls giggled when they waved back, while little boys' chests puffed out in pride.

Booth didn't hear or see any of this, though. _Her_ words rang out in her ears and her face, her beautiful, _feminine_ face flashed before his eyes. _"Thank you...for everything."_ Booth shuddered.

How dare she? How dare she betray him like this? How dare she make him question his own sexuality, his _sanity? _How dare she make his so pissed off that he almost killed her? But then _didn't_! Like a coward! And then he gave her the excuse about a debt repaid, but he knew the truth! He didn't kill her just because he saved her life! Ha! He wished it was that simple! He didn't kill her because his heart wouldn't let him...because if he had gone with it...well, he just knew that his heart would break the second she stopped breathing. He could deal with the pain of war, even with the pain of complete, utter betrayal...but he could never live with himself if he ever killed her. If he ever killed the one he lo-

"Booth!" Booth's eyes widened at the sound. It was as if she were- "Booth! Over here! BOOTH!" His head shot around, his gorgeous brown eyes surveying the crowd, looking for the source of the voice. Surely, it couldn't be her. Surely, she had better sense than to- "BOOTH! OVER HERE!"

Suddenly, Booth's chocolatey brown eyes met icy blue. Somewhere past the crowd, she was attempting to get through, making people move aside, yelling out for them to move, adding a please and thank you here and there.

"Booth!" She exclaimed, once she finally got through, leaving a trail of disgruntled peasants in her wake, who'd been enjoying the parade until she came along. "Booth! I have to talk to you!"

Booth, whose heart had started pounding the second he heard her voice, and who had to suppress a smile at seeing her beautiful face again, made his face into the wall of steel it was when he left her. "There's nothing more to talk about, Bones." he growled. "It's over. Go home."

"But, Booth! The Gravedigger, he-"

"The Gravedigger is _dead_, Bones." Booth said, turning away from her and urging Camille forward. "End of story. Just go."

"But, Booth, I saw him! He climbed out of the ravine! He's on his way to-"

"Bones! ENOUGH!" Booth exclaimed. "No more of your lies! I can't take it anymore. Just take your horse and go! NOW!"

"But-"

"NOW!" Booth roared, before racing away from them, towards the front of the parade line, where Hank was leading the troops.

"What was all that about, Shrimp?" Hank asked. He'd been watching the two go back and forth and it seemed like Temperance had said something that had really upset his grandson.

Booth took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Nothing, Pops." He said, evenly.

"You sure, because Temperance looks a bit-"

"I'm sure!" Booth growled. He took another deep breath. "I'm sorry, Pops, but, yeah, I'm sure. Everything's perfect."

He took one last, lingering glare at Temperance before turning back and forcing a smile at a group of small girls waving up at him, giggling madly.

VVVVVV

Temperance watched Booth race away from her with tears in her eyes.

Why didn't he believe her? Well, that one was obvious...She'd already lied to him so much before, it was only natural that he didn't believe anything she said to him.

But why did he think she was lying about _this_? To get attention?

Temperance glared at his back. Well, it would serve him right when the Gravedigger _does_ attack.

Her shoulders slacked. No, she didn't want that. Not just to prove to him that she wasn't making everything up. That would put peoples' lives in danger. People would die if she let this happen.

But, what could she do to stop it?

Temperance scanned the ground, trying to find somebody who'd be willing to help her, but most of the people there were men. The only women were doting wives and mothers. Surely, they wouldn't put their families or themselves in danger by following her into battle. And a man wouldn't follow her either way.

Temperance was becoming frustrated with her limited choices when she spotted three men who would do anything in their power to help her, that she knew. She raced towards them, calling their names. "Vincent! Gordon-Gordon! Hodgins! HEY, GUYS!"

The three odd men turned around at the sound of their names being called, by a woman, nonetheless. And all three smiled when they recognized their fellow soldier...well, _ex_-soldier, Ru-er, Temperance Brennan. "Bones!" they chorused as she raced up.

Temperance was relieved at their apparent elation at seeing her. "Hello!" she said. "It's nice to see you all don't hate me after what happened."

"Never!"

"Of course not!"

"Preposterous!"

Temperance smiled. "Great! Now, I'm gonna need your help with something."

"Anything!"

"You name it!"

"Splendid!"

Her smile widened. "Okay, so about the Gravedigger...he didn't really-"

Suddenly, there was a very large crashing noise and a unanimous gasp of surprise and horror. All four of them turned their faces towards the source of the crash and caught sight of the man himself; the Gravedigger.

And locked tight in an embrace, but more like a choke hold, was none other than the King.

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**I have joined Tumblr! My name is CassieBones224 if any of you want to follow me there!**


	30. Chapter 29

**Sorry it's taken so long to update, but I've been pretty busy with the play and all. I took a bit of time to myself to read and see the Hunger Games (which was AMAZING, by the way!) and I have to film my movie tonight, but I have at least 8 hours with which I can do anything I please. So I choose writing and possibly video games. So, enjoy the former part for as long as you can! **

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"...dead." Temperance finished weakly after catching sight of the alarming occurrence on stage.

The three men standing beside her each made a noise of surprise in return.

Several people echoed them, their voices growing louder and angrier with each passing moment, until there a loud roar of outrage and contempt for the man holding their leader captive.

"Let him go!" One man's voice rang above the crowd. Several others followed, demanding that the Gravedigger let the King go.

The Gravedigger just laughed at them all and nodded to his own men, who immediately began their descent into the crowd, injuring all that attempted to stop them. Soon, the crowd began to quiet down, save for the children who clung to their mothers and sobbed into their chests.

Temperance turned to the three shocked soldiers in turn, watching their faces relay a flurry of emotions, ranging from confusion to terror, to anger, to hopelessness. "Guys!" she shout-whispered. "Snap out of it! We have to stop him!"

Three sets of eyes blinked simultaneously, staring at her, then three voices rang out. "ARE YOU INSANE!" All heads turned to them and they immediately quieted, whispering the same three words to her.

"We can't stop him, R-Temperance! He's got the King!" Vincent argued.

"Not to mention his lackeys! They've already killed ten people, including children! We don't stand a chance!" Hodgins added, looking sullen.

Gordon-Gordon nodded in hopeless agreement.

Temperance's eyes widened, then narrowed. "What is WRONG with you three? You are soldiers in the King's Army! It's your job to protect him and his entire country! Not just give up at the first sign he's in danger!" Her voice became stronger, but still slightly pleading with them. "Come on! We can do this! We can save him! We can stop the Gravedigger for good!" She took a deep breath. "I believe in all of you."

The three men looked up into her piercing, honest blue eyes, seeing nothing but complete sincerity.

Hodgins was the first of the three to speak up. "I'm in!" The other two looked at him and he stared them both down. "Come on, guys! This is what we've been training for, right? We can do this!"

Vincent and Gordon-Gordon continued to stare at him until slow smiles spread on their faces and they both nodded. "We're in!" They said in unison.

Hodgins grinned and turned to Temperance. "What first, Bones?" He asked, saluting her.

Temperance grinned. "Follow me!" she said, taking off in the opposite direction from the crowd.

All three men ran as fast as they could towards her, huffing and puffing as they met up with her in the back alley of a shop several blocks from the Castle, and nearly a hundred feet from the crowd.

Temperance waited patiently for the men to catch their breath. Hodgins was the first to speak.

"Okay, Bones." he said, taking a deep breath through his nose. "What's the plan?"

Temperance smiled and jumped from Wendell's back, leaning in to the men, and speaking quietly. "Okay, first off, we're going to have to figure out your dress sizes..."

The three men didn't know what they were expecting to hear, but this was definitely far from what they planned. And, as they looked into Temperance's determined eyes, they knew this was _not _going to be pretty...

XxXxXxX

Booth nearly had a heart attack as he watched the Gravedigger grab the King. He leaned forward, intent on racing to help the older man, but an arm on his chest stopped him. He looked to see the owner of the arm, his Grandfather, shaking his head.

"Gather your men." Hank whispered. "We'll meet around back." Booth nodded, not wanting to disobey his Grandfather's orders.

Hank set off, leaving Booth to round up the soldiers from his troop. He ordered Clark to find them all and relay the message to meet in the back of the castle. Clark nodded and set off, on foot, to relay the message.

Meanwhile, Booth surveyed the crowd, who were, at the moment, calling out in rage. Then his eyes caught a slight movement from the Gravedigger, who was slowly backing up into the Castle, and many of his men, though bloody and battered, began moving into the crowd, weapons drawn. Booth's eyes widened, and he immediately moved from his horse, allowing Clark to take her to the meeting place and started off into a section where one of the Gravedigger's men just entered and was now terrorizing somebody Booth couldn't quite see, which alarmed him more than he could say.

Booth began to ran towards the soldier, pushing people out of the way, until he came to a small, circular clearing, in which a little girl was facing off with the menacing soldier.

The little girl, who had the same icy blue eyes Temperance Brennan possessed, but much darker, black hair, was wielding a wooden sword at the man, obviously not intimidated, or trying hard to remain brave for the two little boys she protected behind her, most likely her brothers. "Leave us alone!" she ordered, her voice shaking slightly.

Booth noticed that the little girl wasn't so little, at once. She must have been almost Temperance's age, perhaps a year or two younger, and no parents seemed to belong to her, and the little boys clung to her like they would a mother. An orphan, Booth realized. One that was used to menacing figures and had to remain brave for the sake of her family.

The menace smiled down at her, unsheathing his own sword, a real one, made of silver, and pointing it back at her. "Oh, look at the _brave_ little girl. What's your name, Sweetheart?"

The girl glared at him. "That's none of your business, Meathead!"

The man laughed, cruelly. "Meathead, am I?" He scoffed. "Well, if that's how you feel about me, maybe it'd be better if I just eliminated one more rude little person off the Earth then, hmm? Or, perhaps, _three_?" He eyes the two boys with their heads poking out from either side,

The little girl's eyes shone with anger at this, and she immediately struck the man's midsection with her sword. He barely let out an 'oof!' before he raised his own sword to strike back.

Booth's eyes widened and, without thinking, he stepped in, bringing _his_ sword across the man's neck and grabbing his sword-wielding hand, putting pressure on his wrist until he released the sword, which felt to the floor, sliding several feet until it reached the girl's toes. She picked it up and ran her hand along the blade, awing at it. She passed her wooden sword to one of her brothers and wielded the silver one, smiling triumphantly at the man, still trapped by Booth's sword.

"Now," Booth said, evenly. "_what, _exactly, were you going to do to this young lady here, hmm?"

The man took a deep breath. "You think you intimidate me, Captain Booth? Or should I say, _General_ now? Sorry about your father, by the way. It's a shame I had to drive my sword into his-"

The man wasn't able to finish his sentence as Booth sliced his neck, causing the man to fall to the ground in a bloody heap. Booth looked to the young girl.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." he said.

The girl shrugged. "We've seen worse. _Much_ worse." By the look in her eyes, Booth could tell she was speaking the truth. "Thank you for your help, General. That was very brave" she bowed to him and urged her younger brothers to do the same.

Booth smiled softly and kneeled in front of her. "It was no problem, Sweetie. Looks you're pretty brave yourself, huh?"

The girl smiled. "I have to be. I'm all my brothers have. Besides our Grandma. But she's ill. She can't care for us."

Booth frowned. "Well, then they're all lucky they have somebody like you then, right?"

The little girl nodded, tears coming to her eyes. "I guess so."

Booth wiped a tear from the girl's cheek. "Just stay strong, stay brave...what's your name?"

The girl smiled. "Margaret." She said, proudly. "And these are my brothers, Hart and Stephan." The little boys waved shyly.

Booth waved back. "Hey there, brave soldiers." He turned back to Margaret. Take care, Margaret. Use that thing wisely." He pointed to the sword. She nodded.

"Of course. Go get the bad guys, okay? I think you can save us all."

"I think so, too. Especially if my soldiers are half as brave as you are."

They smiled at each other and Booth bid her farewell before heading to the meeting place.

**Okay, so the little girl, Margaret, is obviously Zooey Deschanel's character and Hart and Stephan are the creators of Bones, so I just added them in to show Booth's extremely soft side for little kids. Anyways, REVIEWS!**

**P.S. I'm thinking of taking a break from the Disney AU's to write an AU based on the Hunger Games. It will go by the book more than the movie and I will have to change some things, but what do you guys think? Good idea? Or bad? Tell me in your REVIEWS!**


	31. Chapter 30

**Early morning update! I can't sleep so I thought I'd make the process of finishing this story, so I can start my next one (Yes, the Hunger Games) a bit faster. So, please enjoy the third to last chapter!**

Chapter Thirty

After Temperance explained her plans to the boys, they were all very wary of being squeezed into courtesan dresses, but they didn't fight her on it; too much was at stake for them _not_ to do it. So, they all willingly followed her into a nearby dress shop, where the small lady who owned the place cowered behind her counter, almost going into shock at the sight at the young woman with the three dressed up soldiers.

"Take anything you want!" she called out to them. "Just please don't hurt me!"

Temperance walked up to and around the counter, kneeling next to the frightened old lady. "Ma'am." she said, softly. "We're not here to hurt you. We're here to help. I am soldier Temperance Brennan from the royal army and these are my comrades, Gordon-Gordon Wyatt, Vincent Nigel-Murray, and Jack Hodgins. We're all here to help against the Gravedigger."

The woman's eyes widened as soon as Temperance named herself as soldier. "But you...you're a woman. You can't be a soldier; it's _illegal_."

Temperance shrugged. "I was never one for rules, anyway." Her face got serious. "Now, if you'll agree, I think you may be able to help us in some way."

"H-how?" The woman said in a shaky voice.

Temperance stood and helped the woman to her feet as well. She turned her so that they were facing the three men, who stood there awkwardly. "You see those three men?" The woman nodded. "I need _you_ to make them into women."

The woman's eyes widened, and her mouth gaped open to ask why, but Temperance beat her to it. "We have to be able to trick the Gravedigger's guards." The woman nodded in understanding, then turned back to the three odd-looking men.

"Well," she said, "it's not going to be easy, but I think I've got just the thing."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

As Booth approached the meeting place, his eyes did a head count of all his men. A few were missing, which didn't quite alarm him; the Gravedigger's men probably did quite a number on the crowd, especially those dressed in army garb. A few of the men were injured, not badly, but enough that they groaned every so often. Hank stood in the middle of the small gathering talking to them all about how they must be brave for the good of the country and the King, himself.

"Now, I want all of you to do your best out there. Better than your best. And, whatever you do, show _no_ weakness! That's what they'll be looking for, ain't they?" Hank spotted his grandson over a few heads, and smiled grimly. "Ah, there's my boy. Seeley will explain the battle plan to ya, won't you, Shrimp?"

Booth rolled his eyes at the childish nickname. "Yeah, Pops." he said, elbowing a snickering soldier in the side. "So the battle plan is, basically, spread out. Take down any guards you find, but don't let them hear you when you come at them, be sneaky about it. Take down all the guards in the crowd, then work your way to the Castle. Try to find a way in. I don't care if you have to knock down the door, I want you in there! Take down as many guards as possible. Get as close to the King and the Gravedigger as you can get, but don't let him know you're there or he'll kill him on the spot. Understood?"

Each and every head bobbed in affirmation and hands when to foreheads in a salute. "Good." Booth said, saluting them back. "Now go on."

The men all nodded and turned back to the crowd, making their way back to protect.

When each and every one of them were gone Hank turned to Booth. "Shrimp?" he said. "Mind if I ask you something?"

"Not at all, Pops." Booth replied. "Just make it quick. We have to-"

"Yeah, yeah, save the King, I know." Hank replied. "But, I just wanted to ask you...about Temperance."

Booth's eyes hardened at the mention of the traitorous woman. "What about her?" He ground out, feeling the familiar ache in his chest.

Hank took a deep breath before speaking, trying to communicate to Booth that he should do the same. "Just...why was she here tonight, Shrimp?" he asked. "Why did she come back to you after betraying you, after you punished her by abandoning her? Did she know about this? Did she try to tell you about him? About the Gravedigger? Or was there another reason?"

Booth looked away, in part shame and part annoyance, both at his Grandfather and himself. He took a long moment before answering. "She told me about the Gravedigger...or at least she tried. I wouldn't listen. I couldn't believe her after she betray me like that."

"Like what, Shrimp?" Hank asked, his voice a bit gruff. "By being the best soldier you've ever had? By saving your life? By saving the lives of your soldiers? By bringing down the Gravedigger, if only for a while? Or by being a woman?" Booth was silent. "Well," Hank said, "which is it, boy? Because none of those thing exactly scream betrayal to me. Besides, according to her, her cause was noble. She was there to save her father, not to betray anybody, least of all you."

"She made me think-" Booth paused, not quite ready to voice it out loud.

"What, boy?" Hank laughed. "That you liked other boys? Well, then I would think that you'd be happy to find she's a woman, then, hmm? Relieved, even. Especially since I know for a fact that she feels the same for you."

Booth's eyes widened for half a second then he turned away again. "I don't know what you mean." he said.

"Of course you do, boy!" Hank bellowed. "That girl wouldn't have come here to warn you if she didn't care about you even a little bit! And she wouldn't have gone straight to you if she didn't love you like you love her! And don't even try to deny it, because I know you do! So, now it's time to get yer head out of your ASS and go do something about it!"

Booth just stood there, staring in shock at his Grandfather's assessment of his feelings for Temperance, saying nothing, though his mouth opened and closed several times. Moments passed before he spoke, quietly and unsurely. "What can I possibly do now?" he asked.

"Go find her." Hank answered. "See if she needs your help. Perhaps she has a plan? Make sure she gets through it, alive, then tell her how you feel. I guarantee she feels the same."

"But what if she-"

"She will, Shrimp." Hank said, going back to the endearing term. "You just have to trust me on this. And trust her with your heart. She won't break it again. She would die before that."

Booth wanted to say more but all he could do was nod and hug his Pops good bye, before leaving him to find Temperance.

**TWO MORE CHAPTERS! The next one will be pretty long so be on the lookout! REVIEWS!**


	32. Chapter 31

**UPDATE! ENJOY!**

Chapter Thirty-One

Temperance's eyes practically twitched as she surveyed the men...err...if you could still call them that. She was trying incredibly hard not to bust the stitches in her stomach by laughing, and furthermore, insulting her three dearest friends. So, instead, she just bit the inside of her cheek and nodded when Vincent asked if they looked pretty enough.

Each of the men were dressed in what the small woman, named Daisy Wick (I had no idea what other name to use!), was prime courtesan wear. They each had on a different colored short silk gown with slits going up the sides that only opened when their knees bent, matching shoes and lace sashes that were to be worn either around their waists or framing their made-up faces. The men chose the latter. Vincent wore the blue dress, Hodgins wore green, and Gordon-Gordon wore black, which Daisy insisted flattered his figure.

All three men wore raven black wigs that sat, unflattering, on top of their heads. Hodgins, in particular, clashed with his beard.

Temperance turned away from the three men as the need to laugh became too much for her to bear, and she let out a silent chuckle, making her shoulders shake slightly.

"What do you think, Miss Wick?" Temperance asked, forcing her voice to stay calm, while her smile couldn't be tampered down.

Daisy smiled back at her and nodded. "I think they look just _lovely_, Miss." She winked at Temperance. "Real beauts. But, I have just one question; how do you suppose you'll get into the Castle? The only entrances are armed by his guards, and unless you can fly into the balcony, I'm afraid there's no other way inside."

Temperance grinned, eying the men's sashes. "I think we'll find a way. Thank you, Ma'am, for all your help."

Daisy nodded and bowed to her. "It was my pleasure...Soldier." she winked at the younger woman and smiled slyly. "Good luck. Good luck to you all." she bowed at the men. They each bowed back in turn and thanked her for all her help and wished her safety in the coming hours.

As they each made their way back towards the Castle, Temperance explained to the three...whatever they were at this point, the next part of her plan, which was to find an unoccupied balcony, which would no doubt be held up by wide, stone pillars and climb up.

It wasn't hard, either. It took barely two minutes for them to find the spot they were looking for, although it was located quite far from the part of the Castle in which the Gravedigger had disappeared. Temperance ignored this fact, though, maintaining that it would be the only place to climb where they wouldn't be spotted.

So, each man, and Temperance picked one of at least six pillars holding up the magnificent stone balcony. Temperance showed them what to do by first removing her sash and slinging it around her pillar and pulling tight, waiting as the others followed her example.

"Okay," she said, in a low, timid voice, "what you want to do now is-"

"Bones!" a voice hissed from several feet behind her. Temperance's heart nearly stopped at the instant recognition mixed with the tingling sensation it sent down her spine. She turned slowly, towards the voice, her heart jumping at the sight of the smiling man with the brown eyes, dressed handsomely in the uniform she saw him in earlier...only this time, it was covered in blood.

Temperance paled and dropped her sash, running to him. "Booth!" she gasped. "Are you alright? What happened? Why are you covered in blood? Did you get hurt? Are you injured?"

She reached out to check his abdomen, where most of the blood was splattered, but his hands reached out and grabbed hold of hers, bringing them together in the warmth of his fingers. "I'm fine, Bones." Booth said, smiling softly at her worry. "This isn't my blood."

Temperance looked up at him, her cheeks flushing, partly from the warmth of his hands, and partly from the warmth in his eyes, a warmth she'd long to see since they parted barely twelve hours earlier. "But, then whose-?"

Booth shook his head. "Doesn't matter." He said. "It's over now. Just...tell me how I can help."

Temperance smiled up at him, her heart fluttering wildly in her chest. She took a deep breath, attempting to calm it before speaking. "Um...we-we're trying to climb to the balcony." She removed one of her hands from between his, wincing at the sudden chill she received and pointed upwards, as if he needed reference to where a balcony might be located.

Booth's eyes followed her finger, though, and then he smiled. "Gotta get the arrow, huh?" She chuckled and nodded. "Mind if I join you?"

Temperance grinned. The old Booth was back. "Not at all." she replied, looking straight into his chocolatey brown eyes, as he gazed back into her crystal blue ones. They stood there, staring into each other's eyes for several moments, before a haughty voice sounded from behind them.

"Hey," Hodgins called out. "You know, the King could be dead any second now. Come on!"

Temperance broke her eyes away from Booth's and turned back to the three smirking boys. She sent them a deadly look, before turning back to Booth with a winning smile. "Come on." she said, pulling him to stand at the pillar next to hers. "You all ready?" she asked, repositioning her sash.

The men nodded and followed her as she began to scale the pillar, grunting along with her until they reached the top and flung themselves over the railing, breathing heavy at their exertion.

"Okay, Bones," Booth breathed, "what next?"

Temperance sat up, still breathing heavily, and catching sight of a sliding glass door, which led to a hallway of sorts. See if you can get in there without making noise. Break the glass if you have to.

Booth nodded and stood up, walking over to the door and testing the latch. The door didn't budge. "It's locked." he announced, before taking the handle of his sword and bringing it against the glass, causing it to crack in a few places, on piece being big enough to fit his hand through if he just pushed it in. So, he did...and of course, the entire sheet of glass made a loud crashing sound as it all came down. Booth winced at the sound, his muscles becoming rigid as he waited for the onslaught of Gravedigger guards.

But, to all their surprises, none came.

"They must not have expected anybody to get up here." Temperance said as she came to stand next to Booth, the others following loyally.

Booth nodded in agreement. "Yeah. But just in case, ready your weapons...do you have weapons?"

Temperance nodded and showed him the sword, bow and arrows, and the small collection of knives she carried in one of her pockets. They weren't large, by any means, but they'd get the job done.

Booth smiled at her, chuckling at her array of weaponry. _Still the same old Bones. _Then he turned to the men. "What about you three?" he asked.

The men looked at each other and shrugged, holding up their sashes. Booth shook his head and Temperance laughed, handing two knives each to Vincent and Hodgins and the sword to Gordon-Gordon, while she kept one sword for herself and her bow, which was fastened to her back.

"Ready now?" she asked. They nodded. "Okay. You three, put your sashes around your faces to disguise yourselves. Make yourselves as feminine as possible. Try to distract the guards and Booth and I will sneak up on them, if need be. Hide your weapons somewhere they won't look.

The men nodded and hid their knives in their skirt pockets while Gordon-Gordon hid his sword under his dress, somehow.

When they were all ready, Temperance had to men lead, telling them where to turn. She'd been through the Castle with her father when she was younger, at least twice. Once when he was to accept a medal of honor for the last war he was in for saving his entire troop from hidden explosives, and again for Russ's honorary medal for dying at the hands of the war, in which he was training for.

Still, she knew every turn and direction to the King's Suite, where the Gravedigger surely took him, by heart.

And by the time they got to the outer most doors, they were met with the sight of two guards, not Royal in the least, standing outside, weapons drawn in caution.

"You guys ready?" Temperance asked the men, and each of them shook their heads in turn. "Better get ready." Temperance whispered. "Cause you're on." With that, she and Booth pushed them out and around the corner, putting them in full sight of the guards, who turned their weapons up at them.

"Who goes there?" one of them asked, wielding his sword.

The three men wrapped their sashes tight around their heads and giggled like shy women, smiling flirtatiously at the guards.

The second man's weapon drooped and he rolled his eyes. "Concubines." he said.

The men giggled and each put out a hairy leg, as if offering themselves.

"Ugly concubines." The other agreed.

Temperance chuckled slightly, before retrieving an arrow and putting it to her bow, aiming at the first guard, who was ordering the three "concubines" to continue on their way and they would not be hurt.

She let it fly right between his eyes, killing him instantly.

The second guard's eyes widened and shock and his hand went to his weapon...too late, though. Temperance's next arrow pierced his left eye, killing him quicker than the last one.

Booth grinned at her. "Nice shot, Bones!" she said, patting her on the back, his hand remaining a bit longer than necessary.

Temperance smiled up at him, proudly. "Thanks." she said, almost shyly.

Booth smiled at her before leading her to where the other three men stood shocked above the bodies of the dead guards. Jack pouted as they came up. "I've never felt so degraded." he said.

Temperance chuckled. "It'll be over soon." she said. "I promise."

"It better be." Vincent responded. "This thing is riding up on me." He pulled on his dress skirt, gaining laughs from his fellow soldiers. "So, what's next then?" he asked. "How do we get in? The door's locked and-"

Booth interrupted as he shoved him aside and stuck his knife in the crack of the door, sliding it down until he met resistance. "Stand back." he warned. The others followed his command and he brought the sword down, hard, breaking the lock and causing the door to crack open, revealing a narrow stairway to the King's chambers.

"Oh." Vincent conceded. "That's how."

"You three go on, in case there are more guards." Temperance ordered. "We'll get your back."

The men nodded and began up the stairs, trying to play the parts of the sexy courtesans, which made Temperance and Booth chuckle under their breath as they followed up the stairs.

They were met with no more resistance (apparently the Gravedigger thought the two guards were adequate in getting rid of whoever might be able to enter the building) and soon reached a door, which they could hear voices from behind. The Gravedigger.

Temperance took a deep breath and reached for the door knob, but Booth's hand stopped her. She turned to ask what was wrong, but he didn't give her a chance to speak as his lips landed swiftly onto hers, his arms coming around her waist as her reached up and around his neck, getting lost in the searing, heart-melting kiss for several moments, before pulling away to breathe.

"What was-"

"Just in case." Booth answered before she could finish her question. "If, for any reason at all, no matter how unlikely, one of us doesn't make it out of here...I just wanted to know how that would feel."

"And...?"

Booth grinned. "It was better than I imagined."

Temperance smiled. "I concur." She placed another tiny kiss on his lips before turning back to the door. "You ready?" she asked.

Booth nodded, grasping her hand in his larger one, causing her heart to jump at the sensation.

Slowly, she opened the door...

**HAHA! I decided I'll do one more chapter than I planned just so I can leave you with this cliffie! If I get a lot of OUTSTANDING REVIEWS, I may be tempted to write the next two chapters tomorrow night (provided I have enough energy after rehearsal). SO, REVIEW!**


	33. Chapter 32

**UPDATE! Okay, so I didn't get many reviews (only two, actually) but I'm home from school and glad because I just found out that we are getting a season EIGHT! That means we'll be watching little Baby Bones as a tot next year! SO MANY FEELINGS! Anyway, to celebrate, I've decided I'm going to wrap up this story as quick and with as much a happy ending as I possibly can! ENJOY!**

Chapter Thirty-Two

The room was elegant, lovely, full of lush furniture made of silk and plush that felt relaxing to the touch. There was a large bed in the center of the room, as well a small living space that, with couches that faced out a large window the size of a wall...where the Gravedigger stood with his back to them, partially blocking the view of the King, who, if he spotted them, ignored them completely and focused on the masked man in front of him, not speaking.

Temperance could hear the muffled voice of the Gravedigger, taunting and threatening the King, though she could not make out what was being said. She nudged Booth and he nodded, creeping about the room, looking for a door to get out to the balcony, while Temperance and the men worked out a plan. Gordon-Gordon, on her cue, was to retrieve the King and bring him to safety, while Vincent and Hodgins were to tie the Gravedigger up with their sashes. Temperance hoped they would hold long enough for Booth and herself to find out the identity and kill the Gravedigger, once and for all.

Their plan was set into action as Booth whistled shortly around a corner. Temperance and the boys snuck as quietly and discreetly as they could, meeting up with Booth at yet another sliding glass door.

Temperance pulled the latch, slightly, testing any sounds the door might make, but finding that it was as silent as they. As she opened it a crack, the Gravedigger's voice flooded into the room.

"-disgrace!" he was saying, in that husky voice of his. "To your wives, your children, and especially to your country! You couldn't protect them, Sam. Just like you couldn't protect yourselves from being kidnapped. I should kill right now, right here, but then I wouldn't have the pleasure of letting you suffer through your punishment, like you did my father..."

The King's eyes flashed, then widened at this. "Your...father?" he asked, uncomprehending. "Who...?"

"Don't play with me, Cullen!" the Gravedigger growled. "You know exactly who! My _father_, the man you accused of killing an entire fleet of men! Who you sentenced to death by torture! Long, grueling torture! That you forced his _family_ to watch." Temperance could hear the torture in the Gravedigger's voice as it cracked with emotion.

The King narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what you mean...the man I had killed for that crime...well, he had no sons. Just a single daughter..."

The Gravedigger nodded. "Yes. A daughter whose mother killed herself after her husband's death, leaving the child alone, with nothing but her vengeful thoughts! You destroyed an entire family, Cullen! And now you're going to pay dearly for it!" The Gravedigger raised his sword and grabbed a handful of the King's royal robes. The King, for his part, barely flinched at the movement, not willing to give into the Gravedigger, even if it did mean a slow, painful death. This only proved to anger the Gravedigger further. "Any last words, _King_?" He spat the last words, causing the King to blink, but still he said nothing and the Gravedigger moved to bring down the sword on him.

Suddenly, an arrow pierced the Gravedigger's hand and he relinquished his hold on both the sword and the King, who fell back to the floor, confused.

The Gravedigger's free hand went to his injured one as he turned to see who had shot the arrow, and finding... a young girl. A girl of sixteen held a bow in one hand and an arrow in another, daring the Gravedigger to retaliate with her eyes.

A slow, evil smirk spread over the Gravedigger's features as he removed the arrow from his hand and snapped it like a twig between two fingers...on his injured hand. He tossed aside the halves and reached down for his sword, his gaze holding to hers the entire time, but finding nothing. He looked down for only a second, but saw that his sword had disappeared. When he looked back up, the girl had another arrow loaded and was smirking at him. "Problem?" she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

The Gravedigger did not lose his own amused expression as he stepped closer. Temperance did not back down and in fact pulled tighter on the bow. "One more step and this goes into your eye." She warned.

The Gravedigger laughed. "Oh yeah. Says wh-?" he couldn't finished as something pulled on his neck from behind, then each arm was pulled back and tied together behind him. Temperance's smirk grew at his shocked expression.

"You were saying?" she asked, tauntingly. "Gordon-Gordon, take the King to safety. Now!"

The large man nodded and hoisted the King over his shoulder like a rag doll. "My apologies, your Highness." he said, as he made his way back through the castle, tossing his sword back to Temperance, having no need for it now.

Temperance glanced over just long enough to grasp the sword, tucking it into her sash, and raising the bow again. "Vincent, Hodgins." she called to her friends, who stood behind the Gravedigger, their knives poised at his throat. "Head down." she ordered. They looked up blankly at her, opening their mouths as if to argue, but she shook her head. "Go." she ordered. They nodded, making their way back inside the Castle.

Temperance looked to Booth now. He stood out of view of the Gravedigger, having taken his sword, readying to kill him if necessary. She nodded to him and head nodded back, reaching for the Gravedigger's mask and pulling it off, swiftly.

Temperance gasped at the woman they unveiled, her eyes widening in shock. Booth's expression matched hers. "A woman..." he breathed.

The woman, the Gravedigger, kneeled there, glaring up at Temperance, her pale blue eyes flickering with hate, her fiery red hair mussed from the mask. "You're surprised...soldier?" she hissed. "It _is_ you, isn't it? The soldier that sent that cannon into the side of the mountain, forcing me and my men over the edge of a cliff. You thought you'd killed us, didn't you?" She laughed, cruelly, crazily, "Not a chance. You'll never be able to kill me. Not really." Her voice was almost inhuman, so deluded and cocky with her own beliefs of immortality. "Go on." she dared. "_Try_ to kill me. I dare you. I bet you can't do it."

The taunting almost got to Temperance. She very nearly released the arrow, sending it into the Gravedigger's skull, but she held back, wanting to know more about this woman. "Why did you do it?" she asked, though she knew most of it. "Why did you take out your anger, meant solely for the King, on all of us? Why would you kill so many people?"

"Because I could." was her crazy, homicidal answer. "Because it was just so easy. Because nobody helped my father. Because none of them even _tried_ to help him. Because you _all _deserve to die."

Temperance lowered her bow, slightly, contemplating this. "I'm sorry about your father." she said, sincerely. "I truly am. But that doesn't give you the right to kill everybody around you. Especially not the fathers of others." Her eyes flicked to Booth's and he thanked her with his eyes.

When she turned back to the Gravedigger, she was fuming, and in mere seconds she'd lunged at Temperance, her hands free from her restraints and wrapped her hands around her throat, cutting off the younger woman's air supply.

Temperance gasped for breath, attempting to push the hysterical woman off of her, but not succeeding, as she felt herself fall slowly into a black abyss...

Then, suddenly, the hands around her throat went slack, and she could breathe again. Temperance pushed the woman's body off of hers and sat up, being instantly helped up by Booth's strong hands, his arms wrapping around her body. "Oh God, Bones!" he said, burying his face in her neck. "Are you okay?"

Temperance nodded. "Yes, but we won't be if we don't get out of here." she turned her head to the groans coming from the fallen woman's lips and grew wary as she began to move. Booth left her side in that instant to grab the sword from her body, twisting it to cause her pain. The Gravedigger cried out in pain and lunged for him, but Booth was too quick for her. He kicked her in the side and backed away, watching her to make sure she didn't make any more sudden movements.

The Gravedigger simply lay there, gasping in pain, glaring up at them with hatred in her eyes. Temperance and Booth took a moment to just watch her, before Temperance's gaze flitted over to the tower adjacent to the one they were standing in now. She grasped Booth's hand in hers and pulled. "Come on." she said. "We have to go. Now."

Booth gazed at her questioningly. "What? Why?"

"Just trust me, you don't want to be here when..."

"When what, Bones?" Booth asked.

Temperance smirked. "You'll see." she said, pulling him to the ledge of the balcony, grabbing two discarded sashes on the way. "Tuck the sword in your belt." she said, handing him a sash and looping her own around a string of lanterns leading to a lower tower. "I'll see you down there." She said, smiling at him.

Booth smiled back, and stopped her before she stepped off the balcony. Temperance gave him the same quizzical glance, before he lowered his lips to hers, softly. When he pulled back, they were both smiling. Booth reached out and brushed the hair back from her forehead. "See you soon." he whispered.

Temperance nodded and smiled at him, before regaining her grip on the sash and stepping off the ledge, gliding smoothly down the line, her hands gripping the sash for dear life, before letting go near the ground.

She landed on her knees in the front of the Castle, on the stone steps, and looked up to see the entirety of the city watching her with curious eyes. Booth dropped next to her, falling on his side, gasping for air, but smiling up at her as she looked down at him.

Suddenly, there was a large boom, followed by several smaller explosions as all faces turned to watch an explosion of colors coming from the balcony Temperance and Booth had just vacated. But, thankfully, Temperance was the only person who caught sight of a small red dragon and an even smaller blue cricket flying with the embers of the explosion to the ground a few yards away.

Parker stood up, weaving a bit on his feet and waved over at her. Temperance smiled and waved back, chuckling as he collapsed in a heap on the ground.

Temperance looked back up at the completely demolished balcony, now just a gaping hole in the King's bedroom, half the ceiling crumbling in on itself, and grinned. "I don't think she'll be bothering us anymore."

Booth chuckled and stood up, dusting himself off before helping her to her feet. They locked eyes for a moment and they each leaned in slightly...

"Ahem..." a voice from behind them caused both Temperance and Booth to shoot apart from each other, as if caught doing something unforgivable.

Both looked up and gasped at the sight of the man in front of them, his royal robes in disarray, as well as the formal crown he wore on his head. Gordon-Gordon, Vincent, and Hodgins stood a few feet behind him, also disheveled and still in their courtesan dresses. Temperance almost grinned at the sight, but thought better of it at the somber look and tone of the King's voice.

"_Who_," he asked, "is responsible for all this?"

Temperance was about to take a step forward but Booth caught her off guard by stepping in her way.

"It was me, Your Highness." he said, looking down. "All this is my fault. Punish me as you see fit."

Temperance gasped, but then pushed him aside.

"No," she said, stepping in front of him. "No, Your Highness, this is all my doing. I...I disguised myself as a man to get into the army. I...I fought in the battle against the Gravedigger and failed to completely destroy hi..._her_. And I set up all the fireworks to fly into your bedroom balcony in order to destroy her, _also_ destroying your bedroom and balcony. I'm sorry for all the crimes I've committed against you, sir. Punish _me_ as you see fit." She looked him straight in the eye as she said this, not scared anymore of facing her imminent death.

The King matched the intensity of her gaze. "I've heard of you, young lady. You're Temperance Brennan. Daughter of Max Brennan, one of the bravest soldiers I've ever come in contact with. It seems fitting that his child would follow in his footsteps, but after Russ's death...well, I didn't really think it was at all possible that his _daughter_ could...Nevermind that. It's not important. What _is _important is what you have done." He voice became stern at this. "Like you said, you've impersonated a soldier, your own late brother, committing a treason punished by _death_, you fought in my army as said soldier, and then you came _here_, dressed three of your fellow soldiers in..._drag_ and paraded them around in these ridiculous costumes! Then you destroyed my tower with fireworks, of all things, and _then_..."

Temperance flinched, waiting to hear whatever else she had done wrong to deserve punishment. But the next words that left his lips surprised her more than anything, so much so that, were it not for the pain radiating all over her body, she might think she were dreaming.

"You saved us...you've saved every single person here, myself included. With your quick thinking and courage, you defied everything that you know to be legally right and did what I've never seen any soldier do, in all my years as a ruler. You followed your morals, even though you knew they were certain to get you killed. You cared not for your life, but for the life of others. And for that, I grant you immunity, as well as a few gifts to bring honor to your family." He removed the medallion he wore from around his neck, with his family crest on it. "Take this to show them what you have done for me." He placed the medallion around her neck, smiling gently at her. Then he motioned Booth over and held out his hand. Booth understood immediately and handed him the Gravedigger's sword. "And this to show them what you have done for your country. I'm sure they are very proud of you, Temperance. As are we all."

He bowed to her, followed closely by Booth, then the three soldiers behind her, and soon the entire city was bowing down to her, the crowd growing eerily silent, you could hear a pin drop.

Temperance turned back to the King. "Thank you, sir." she said, bowing back to him. "For everything."

The King smiled softly back at her. "I hope to see you back in town soon, Miss Brennan. We will have a banquet in your honor when you return."

Temperance nodded. "I'd like that." she said. "Thank you."

The King nodded and started to make his waved back into the Castle, giving the large crowd a grand wave as he walked.

Temperance was immediately swept into a large hug by Vincent and Hodgins, who squeezed her tightly, then Gordon-Gordon wrapped his arms around them, squeezing them even tighter in his grasp, before releasing them.

Then it was Booth's turn to envelop her in his arms, squeezing her just as tightly as the three men did, and she, squeezing back, buried her face in the crook of neck. Neither said anything for a long time, but when they released their grasp on each other, he was smiling down at her, contemplatively. "So," he said, grinning, "what happens next?"

Temperance smiled back up at him. "Next...I have to go home."

Booth nodded. "Am I...am I invited back?"

Temperance's smile widened. "Depends..."

"On what?"

"On if you can handle my grandmother."

**REVIEWS! Next chapter will be the last!**


	34. Epilogue

**FINAL update! I'll be sad to see this end, but my next story is something I am so invested in and so excited about that it almost makes up for it! I can't wait to start working on it. I just have to get everything sorted out with who is playing who, and it will be chapter by chapter identical to the book in nearly every way, with my usual changes here and there to fit the characters of Bones. I totally suggest you read the actual book along, if you can. But enough about the Hunger Games. Let's get back to the task at hand. ENJOY!**

Epilogue

Max Brennan sat, hunched, on the stone bench next to the large cherry blossom tree. The one they planted when Temperance was born. Max felt an ache in his chest as he thought of his daughter, so lovely and pure...gone. There was no way she would be coming back now. If she hadn't turned back, realizing that it was too dangerous on that first day she left, she would surely have gone into battle by now, or have been found out by one of her fellow soldiers. Either way, she was gone.

Max buried his face in his hands at this thought, fighting the urge to sob. "How could I let her go?" he mumbled to himself. "I should have gone after her. I should have stopped her."

"I'm glad you didn't." A soft, feminine voice said from behind him. Max's frail old heart jumped at the sound, as did he, as he turned around, shocked at the young, blue-eyed, wide-smiled girl standing before him, in his own armor, wearing a medallion much too heavy for her once frail neck and bearing two swords, wrapped in some sort of cloth. He paid no attention to the strange objects she possessed, only to the beaming smile she got from him, the crystalline eyes of her mother. The sound of her heart beating and the feel of her breath brushing his face as she breathed.

"Temperance." he practically choked.

Suddenly, she was kneeling before him, holding out the swords. "For you." she said, placing them in his lap. "Your prized sword from your days in the war. There's no blood on it, see? And the sword of the Gravedigger, who died at the hands my troop." She then took the medallion from around her neck and placed it upon the swords. "And the King's medallion, a gift he gave me himself. I hope these things bring you honor, Father."

Max looked down at the objects in his lap, then at the girl kneeling in front of him, his precious Tempe. Without second thought he threw the objects to the side and wrapped his arms around his daughter, holding her to him, never wanting to let her go again.

"The best honor I could ever, and have ever, received is you as my daughter. I am so proud of you, Temperance. I always have been."

Temperance smiled into her father's chest, a tear falling down her cheek as her own arms wrapped around his waist. "Thank you." she whispered. "You have no idea how much that means to me...I've missed you so much."

Several feet away stood Temperance's mother and grandmother. Christine smiled at the scene. "How nice to be together again." she sighed, having had her own heartfelt reunion with her daughter earlier.

"Yeah, yeah..." Angela conceded, folding her arms across her chest. "I can't believe she brought home a sword, though. If you ask me, she should have brought home a ma-"

"Excuse me?" Both women turned towards the voice to see a handsome young man, whom Christine recognized as the son of her husband's old army friend, Joseph Booth. It'd been years since she'd seen the boy, who was no longer boy, but man, but she could still see the childlike dimples in his cheeks and the warmth of his big brown eyes. "Hello, Mrs. Brennan and...Mrs. Brennan. Is Temperance home?" He'd had some business to attend to in the capital and had promised to meet her at her home as soon as possible.

Christine and Angela nodded and pointed to the young woman and her father, who still embraced under the cherry blossom tree.

"Oh. Do you think they'll mind if I-?"

"NO!" Both women exclaimed.

Christine cleared her throat. "Of course not. Just go on over."

Booth nodded. "Thank you, Ma'am." he said, politely, bowing to her.

"Well, go on then!" Angela said, shoving him towards her granddaughter, overjoyed, to say the least.

Booth shuffled forward, not looking back, but not missing Angela's next comment.

"Sign _me_ up for the next war!"

He grinned, then made his face serious as he stepped up to Temperance and her father. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

Temperance was the first to look up, as a smile lightened her face at the sight of her...well, she didn't quite know what he was now. He was more than a friend, or General to her now, and suitor didn't quite fit either. She had no idea what to call him or how to introduce him to her father.

But, still, she tried. "Father." she said, standing up and helping him to his feet. She handed him his walking stick to lean on. "Um, this is General Seeley Booth. He lead my troop during the war and he...well, I helped him defeat the Gravedigger."

Booth smiled. "More like _I_ helped _you_." he said. "Your daughter is very smart, Sir. And very courageous." He smiled softly at her, and she beamed back.

Max noticed the connection they had at once and smiled, his heart filling with joy, as well as dread, at the notion that his daughter may finally have found a suitable husband. "Well, then," he said, "how about you join us for dinner tonight and share with us stories of my daughter's courage on the battlefield, hmm?"

Booth's smile widened. "Nothing would make me happier, Sir." he responded, looking at Temperance. "Though, I can think of a few things that might." He winked at her and Temperance blushed.

"So...dinner?" she asked, nervously.

Booth chuckled and nodded. "Lead the way, _soldier_." he teased.

Temperance laughed. "Just follow me, _General_." she teased back.

Booth smiled lovingly at her. "Always." he said, placing his hand on the small of her back as they walked back towards the hut, smiling like fools.

THE END

**I hope you enjoyed that! Stay on the look out for my next story. The HUNGER GAMES: Bones edition xD. REVIEW!**


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